Adam Scott claimed the last of his 13 PGA Tour victories three years ago, but after a strong 2018-19 season it appears he might be close to winning again.
The 39-year-old Aussie rolled in a 54-foot eagle putt during his 7-under-par 65 to tie for the lead with Andrew Landry after one round of the Safeway Open, the third event of the new season, on the North Course at Silverado Resort and Spa https://www.silveradoresort.com/napa-valley-golf in Napa.
“I think it’s easy to walk away from hitting balls for a couple weeks, but it’s not easy to switch your mind out of thinking about your swing or thinking about your chipping or your putter or what driver setting you want this year,” said Scott, who was playing for the first time since tying for fifth in the Tour Championship last month. “But I did. I kind of had it all lined up to where I could walk away and walk back into it last week and feel at least confident enough that I’m not going to be horrible when I tee off.
“”This is a nice way to start. I would like to have a lead going into Sunday and see what I can produce, to be honest, because I’ve been four and five (strokes) back and I have a good front nine and then you’re in the mix. It’s a lot to ask all the time when you’re as far behind as I kind of was.”
Scott (pictured) hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation and following his only bogey at No. 13 after starting on the back nine, he holed 33-foot birdie putt on the next hole to jump-start his round, which he punctuated with the eagle at No. 5.
Landry, whose only PGA Tour victory came in the 2018 Valero Texas Open, made five birdies in a span of seven holes after starting on the back nine, and then sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the eighth hole to catch Scott.
“I’ve been struggling a bit, so instead of flying out here early to practice, I stayed home to work on my game and it paid off,” said Landry, who has four other victories as a pro on lower tours.
“My ball-striking isn’t quite there yet, but I’m feeling really good with the putter. I made a lot of putts today. I’m feeling a lot more relaxed on the green and it was nice to see the ball rolling well.”
Ninth-ranked Francesco Molinari of Italy birdied three of the last five holes in a 66 and is tied for third with Matthew NeSmith, who collected four of his six birdies on the back nine of a bogey-free round.
Cameron Champ of Sacramento birdied three straight holes at the end of his first nine in a 67 and is tied for fifth with Adam Long, who birdied two of the last three holes, and Chris Baker, who carded four straight birdies through No. 17.
Ninth-ranked Bryson DeChambeau of Clovis posted a bogey-free 68 to tie for eighth with Cameron Tringale of Laguna Niguel, Corey Conners of Canada, Rob Oppenheim, Morgan Hoffman, Tyler Duncan and Adam Hadwin of Canada.
Seventh-ranked Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and UCLA dropped in a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole to cap a 69 and is tied for 15th, while sixth-ranked Justin Thomas sank a 19-foot eagle putt on the last hole to shoot 71 and is in a tie for 51st that includes defending champion Kevin Tway.
Tony Romo, former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys who is playing on a sponsor exemption, shot 70 and is tied for 28th.
Phil Mickelson took two penalty strokes while making a quadruple-bogey 9 on the fifth hole en route to a 75 and is tied for 126th.
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