Six share lead in Mississippi
The six players tied for the first-round lead is the second most on Tour this season. There was a Tour record nine players tied for the first-round lead at the Northern Trust Open earlier this year.Tim Petrovic
Petrovic is looking for his first top 10 at the Viking Classic in his seventh start. His best finish here is T16 in 2006.
Petrovic’s bogey-free 65 in the first round is a career-best at the Viking Classic. Last year, six players were tied for first at 6-under 66 after the opening round of the Viking Classic. Bill Haas held a share of the lead after each round last year on his way to winning the Viking Classic.
Petrovic’s only win on Tour came just 180 miles south of the Viking Classic at the 2005 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Petrovic currently ranks 135th in the FedExCup standings.
Petrovic is looking for his first top 10 of the season. Since 2002, he has had at least one top 10 on Tour every year on Tour except in 2006.
Petrovic has held three other first-round leads/co-leads on Tour. He has not been able to convert any into victory.
Brendon de Jonge
Brendon de Jonge, who finished T7 last week at the John Deere Classic, turned in a bogey-free 65 on Thursday.
Brendon de Jonge, 2008 Nationwide Tour Player of the Year, posted his eighth top-25 finish of the season at last week’s John Deere Classic (T7) and moved to No. 55 in the FedExCup standings. He has yet to win on the PGA Tour, despite 13 career top-10 finishes.
John Mallinger
Mallinger had six consecutive birdies (Nos. 9-14) on his way to an opening round 65.
Mallinger missed the cut in his only other start in the Viking Classic last season.
Mallinger has missed six of nine cuts on Tour this season. He has played twice on the Nationwide Tour this season.
Peter Lonard
Lonard finished T54 in his only other start at the Viking Classic in 2002.
This is Lonard’s first start on the PGA Tour since 2009.
Lonard has played in 11 events on the Nationwide Tour this season with two top-25 finishes.
Lonard’s last first-round lead/co-lead was at the 2006 Buick Championship (T9). He also led after the first round at the 2005 RBC Heritage and went on to win that event. His only other first-round lead/co-lead was at the 2004 HP Byron Nelson Championship (T48).
Bobby Gates
Tour rookie Bobby Gates is playing in his 21st Tour event of the season. He has made 13 cuts and has three top-10 finishes.
Gates ranks 138th in the current FedExCup standings.
Gates missed six of his last seven cuts coming into this week. He reached 96th in the FedExCup standings after a T6 finish at the Wells Fargo Championship and then missed his next three cuts, then he finished 82nd at the FedEx St. Jude Classic and then missed three more cuts.
Sunghoon Kang
Kang, a rookie on Tour, played in five events earlier this year and made three cuts before taking time off in March and April to return to South Korea in order to fulfill a military commitment which is a requirement for citizens in that country. Kang was originally supposed to serve two years, but his stint was reduced to just one month because he was a member of his country’s gold medal-winning team at the 2006 Asian Games.
Kang’s best finish on Tour came last week at the John Deere Classic (T12). Kang ranks 137th in the FedExCup standings.
Kang had never played a Tour event prior to this season. He has made six cuts in 13 starts this season.
Kang held the first-round lead by one shot over Rickie Fowler and Alex Prugh earlier this year at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Michael Connell
Mississippi State University graduate Michael Connell shot a bogey-free 66 in the first round.
Connell is looking for his first top 10 of the season. Connell had a pair of top 10s last year (T6/Honda Classic and T7/Children’s Miracle Network Classic).
Connell finished T11 at the Viking Classic last year. He missed the cut here as a rookie in 2006.
Miscellaneous Stats
The Viking Classic is part of the FedExCup season for the first time. The winner will receive 250 FedExCup points. Tommy Gainey (No. 40) and Chris Kirk (No. 46) are the highest-ranked players in the FedExCup standings in the Viking Classic field. Gainey and Kirk are both T16 after the first round.
Chez Reavie’s T5 at last week’s John Deere Classic moved him inside the top 100 in FedExCup points to No. 94. It was Reavie’s third top 25 of the season. He’s looking for his second PGA Tour victory (2008 RBC Canadian Open). Reavie opened the Viking Classic with a 6-under 66 in his first career start at the Viking Classic.
The following players made the Viking Classic their first win on Tour: DJ Trahan (2006), Luke Donald (2002), Cameron Beckman (2001), Willie Wood (1996), Ed Dougherty (1995) and Brian Henninger (1994).
The following players are in the Viking Classic field and have previously won an event opposite the British Open:
Richard S. Johnson 2008 US Bank Championship
Joe Ogilvie 2007 US Bank Championship
Jason Bohn 2005 BC Open
Willie Wood 1996 Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic
Mark Carnevale 1992 Chattanooga Classic
Dan Forsman 1985 Lite Quad Cities Open
The first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win just five of 28 stroke-play events on Tour this year, most recently by Rory McIlroy at the U.S. Open.
There are six past champions in the field: Will MacKenzie (2008), D.J. Trahan (2006), Heath Slocum (2005), Cameron Beckman (2001), Steve Lowery (2000) and Willie Wood (1996).
Bogey-free rounds:
R1: 18 players
Scoring Averages at the par-72 Annandale GC:
Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative
Thursday 34.916 35.053 69.969 ---
The par-4 ninth hole played the toughest on Thursday, yielding a 4.076 average. The par-5 fifth hole was the easiest with a 4.443 average.
Steve Lowery withdrew after nine holes.
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