Golf roundup
Quigley, Tanaka share Hartford Open lead CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) – Brett Quigley and Hidemichi Tanaka put up an impressive best-ball number to top the crowded leaderboard in the Greater Hartford Open.
Quigley birdied four of the first six holes and Tanaka birdied four of the last six for matching 6-under 64s – and an eye-popping 13-under 57 best-ball total – in perfect conditions Thursday on the TPC at River Highlands.
“Today, I wasn’t worried about the final score. I was just playing and trying to have fun out there,” said Quigley, winless in six seasons on the PGA Tour.
Tanaka, a 10-time winner on the Japanese tour, made a 16-foot putt on 16 and a 12-footer on 18 late in the afternoon session for his best round on the PGA Tour.
“This is the first time I’ve played here,” Tanaka said of the course. “Now, I really like it.”
Scott Verplank, Tim Herron, Briny Baird, Jonathan Kaye, Skip Kendall and Japan’s Kaname Yokoo shot 65s, and Steve Pate and Kirk Triplett topped a six-player group at 66.
Quigley, the nephew of Senior PGA Tour player Dana Quigley, took the lead at 6-under with a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-5 13th, and saved par on 14 with an 8-footer after driving into the left rough and laying up on his second shot.
The Rhode Island player dropped to 5-under with a bogey from the greenside bunker on the par-3 16th, but got the stroke back with a 17-foot birdie putt on 17 and closed with a scrambling par.
“The greens are good, but they had some pretty tough pins that are hard to get at,” said Quigley, coming off a 64th-place tie two weeks ago in the Buick Classic.
Verplank made a 35-foot birdie putt on his first hole, the par-4 10th, and holed a 35-foot chip on the par-4 4th, turning a potential bogey into a birdie.
“It was over the waterfall and through the windmill,” he said, joking about the difficult 7-iron shot from a swale. “I was hoping to get up and down and actually made it.”
The Ryder Cup player had a double bogey on the par-3 16th after his ball hit the lip of a bunker and rolled into a hard lie.
“There was pretty much no sand in the bottom of the bunker,” Verplank said. “I knew it was going to come out a little hot, but it went over the green.”
Herron, trying to earn a spot in the PGA Championship in his home state of Minnesota, birdied the final two holes, holing a 16-foot putt on 17 and hitting a 122-yard shot to 2 inches on 18.
“The ball is starting to go where I was looking,” Herron said. “I’m generally a pretty good iron player and a long driver. I just have to get the ball in play.”
LPGA
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Karrie Webb, winless on the LPGA Tour this year, took advantage of soft playing conditions to shoot an 8-under 64 in the first round at the Rochester International.
Webb, who won here three years ago, blistered the narrow Locust Hill Country Club course with nine birdies in her lowest round in nine tournaments this year and led Meg Mallon by three strokes.
Kristal Parker-Manzo was tied for third at 68 with Joanne Morley, while Gloria Park and Mi Hyun Kim were at 69.
Laurie Rinker-Graham, Beth Daniel, Rachel Teske, Fiona Pike and Chris Johnson were another shot back, and defending champion Laura Davies and Juli Inkster led a group of 10 at 71.
Se Ri Pak, who won the LPGA Championship two weeks ago, was among 12 players at even-par 72.
European PGA
HEXHAM, England – Diego Borrego of Spain shot a 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Great North Open.
Borrego birdied his first three holes on the Hunting Course at Slaley Hall, all on putts 3 feet or shorter.
Bradley Dredge double-bogeyed the last hole for a 68, tying him for second with Nicolas Vanhootegem of Belgium and Andrew Raitt of England.
Defending champion Andrew Coltart of Scotland double-bogeyed his final hole for a 73.