Round 1: Danny Lee sets the pace.

6.15am on the morning of round one and my alarm kicks into life. We have scheduled to leave at 8.00am but getting up early allows me a little extra time to review TIO relief options since it is now a couple of months since my last tournament.

It is a gorgeous morning with a cloudy sky and little or no wind which should be conducive to great golf.

Myself, John Paramor and Ludwick Manyama load into the tournament car at 7.55am and head out to the course. Every morning we see a great example of American Enterprise at its best. The properties along the road leading to Firestone all have nice grass areas fronting their properties. As you approach
the club, daily parking prices on the grass fronts start at $5 a day but grow to $20 per day for close access to the course. As the week progresses the $5 sites progress to $10 and the $20 to $30 each day. Parking lot lines are set out in grid formation and wives and husbands direct traffic with specially
made flags. Competition for spots is fierce and front yards fill up quickly each day. Three days still to go and the holiday budget must be looking better already!

Anyway, back to the golf and I head in for a quick bite of breakfast before assuming my role of set up checker for the front nine. This task requires me to follow the staff member setting up and the hole-cutter and making sure the tee markers and bunker rakes are all in correct position, checking that
the bunkers have all been raked and that the holes have been cut in the same place as expressed on the player’s pin sheet for the day. We also check that the hole cups have been set a minimum of 25mm below the surface of the green so that no putts hit the cup and jump out and penalise players further.

First tee time is 9.25am with last off at 2.25pm. I get out to my position around the 4th green at 9.45am ready to keep an eye on the early groups. It doesn’t take long before a group are four minutes overtime and I give the incentive chat to play faster. After a further three holes they are back to
2 under time par.

Play at Firestone is in two balls and this certainly has a significant impact on pace of play. There are specific holes where guys have the potential to drop a couple of minutes but then there may be a run of holes, such as 5, 6 and 7 where they can pick up time.

The morning field raced through on time with the only exception being Sergio Garcia and Patrick Reed, the final pair of the early wave. Sergio was feeling unwell for the majority of the front nine and required constant medical attention. Fortunately he managed to hang in there and the group had no
delaying impact on the first group of the afternoon, Andrew Dodt and a marker who was playing with him to help to keep the field balanced.  Dodty started off well in his first round at Firestone but must have struggled a bit through the testing back nine.

Adam Scott has Steve Williams back on the bag this week and again next week at the PGA Championship and one can only wonder if Steve is ready to come out of retirement full time to help Adam regain the form that took him to number 1.

I caught up with Nick Cullen after his round to see how his World Golf Championship experience was going. Nick was working on his iron play on the range after an opening round of 7-over. Play has been a bit limited for him over recent months after picking up a hand injury however he is now healthy
and loving being in this elite environment. Driving well, Nick feels he can put together a solid performance over the following three rounds. There is no cut at Firestone so each player has the chance to improve on their position through to the weekend.

It was great to see Danny Lee play well and hold the lead after shooting a score of 5-under. He has really matured as a player and is racing up the rankings both in terms of the FedEx Cup and the World rankings. Still a long way to go but with the weather forecast for the week looking calm and reasonably
cool the chance will be there for him to build on this foundation.

With no eight time winner, Tiger Woods or world number one Rory McIlroy, the crowds were still surprisingly good for a Thursday. They love their sport here in Akron which also hosts the NFL Hall of Fame. The football season is getting ready to start over here and pre-season matches kick off this weekend.

Round one down and looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow.

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