The city of New Orleans is trying to be as hospitable as possible to the PGA Tour this week, but English Turn Golf and Country Club went a little overboard Thursday.
Out of a field of 155 players, 101 shot under-par rounds including Graeme McDowell, who carded an 8-under-par 64 and leads by a stroke over Stuart Appleby after the opening round of the $6 million Zurich Classic.
McDowell has played in seven events with a cut and missed playing on the weekend in all but last week's Houston Open, where he finished tied for 54th. The two big differences Thursday were that he hit every green in regulation and had 28 putts.
"It's nice to have a round of golf like this one," McDowell said. "I've been waiting on a round like this for a while."
McDowell was also the recipient of a little luck on his last hole, No. 9. He was 118 yards away for his second shot and used a gap wedge, holing out the approach for eagle.
"It one-hopped right into the hole," McDowell said. "It was a pretty good shot, but I think the hole got in the way a bit."
Appleby didn't need much luck Thursday. He had a bogey-free round and continued his strong play from last week when he went wire-to-wire to win the Houston Open.
"It's about extending that good play as long as you can," Appleby said. "You are pretty relaxed out there and you are in tune with what you are doing."
Appleby was one of many golfers who benefited from a course that was playing fairly easy. The scoring average for the first round was 70.54, a stroke and a half lower than par.
"There were plenty of birdie opportunities to be had," Appleby said. "The course was pretty vulnerable, the soft greens, soft and slowish greens. Certainly soft fairways left the ball from really getting out of control. So certainly targeting the flag was a lot more easy."
McDowell was part of the afternoon tee times and by the time he went off the winds of the early morning had turned to faint breezes.
"It feels like you have wedge in your hand all day," McDowell said. "The golf course feels awfully short and if you are driving the ball you can really tear it up."
Even those in the morning benefited. Lucas Glover is one of 10 golfers that are two strokes behind McDowell at 6-under. Glover said the rain earlier in the week made the conditions easier.
"They were soft," Glover said of the greens. "I made a couple of birdies out of the rough, able to fly them on the green and stop them."
The four par-5s are reachable and Olin Browne, who shot 6-under, felt like he could have gone lower.
"I only played the par-5s 1-under," Browne said. "I missed a couple of makeable putts on the other two par-5s."
McDowell didn't birdie any of the par-5s. He made six birdies and an eagle on par-4s.
Appleby abused the par-5s, making birdie on all four of them under ideal conditions.
"The course had benign conditions for us," Appleby said. "Scores are to be had out there."
It seems Appleby has being doing most of the taking. This was his fifth consecutive round in the 60s.
"It's about extending good play and extending a feeling," Appleby said. "You know, roll of the dice a bit. You really can get on a roll."
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