Day: January 20, 2023

LA QUINTA, Calif. - How does it feel to play nine holes without missing a putt? Sam Burns got that vibe early at The American Express. Playing his opening round at PGA West's Stadium Course, Burns recorded nine consecutive one-putts to begin the day. He turned in 7-under 29, en route to a first-round, 8-under 64, two back of leader Davis Thompson - who began the week at La Quinta CC. Beginning on No. 1 at the Stadium Course, Burns opened with birdies from 6 and 4 feet. After an 8-foot par on No. 3, he made consecutive birdies from 10 and 2 feet, then a 3-foot par save on No. 6. The LSU product closed the nine with three consecutive birdies, from 6, 4 and 2 feet respectively. Remarkably, the total length of putts made on his nine-putt nine? Just 45 feet. It also marked the lowest nine-hole score of his PGA TOUR career. "I like the golf course a lot," Burns said post-round Thursday. "If you drive it well, you can get some wedges in your hand and be able to attack. And the greens are really nice." Burns took 15 putts on the back nine for a total of 24 putts; he led the field Thursday in putts per green in regulation, and he ranked No. 2 in Strokes Gained: Putting at the Stadium Course. Burns will play La Quinta CC on Friday and complete the rotation with PGA West's Nicklaus Tournament Course on Saturday. The American Express features a three-course rotation with a 54-hole cut; Sunday's final round will be contested at the Stadium Course. This marks Burns' fifth TOUR start of the season, highlighted so far by a T7 at THE CJ CUP in South Carolina in October. After making his Presidents Cup debut for the U.S. Team in September - "single-handedly the most fun I've had on the golf course in my career" - he admits there were times during the fall where he was "just kind of mentally not quite in it all the way." He's refreshed into 2023, though, and he was revved to compete in the Coachella Valley. Playing his first nine holes without missing a putt didn't hurt, either.

LA QUINTA, Calif. — PGA TOUR rookie Davis Thompson played his first six holes in 7 under, including consecutive eagles, and shot a career-low 10-under 62 at La Quinta on Thursday to take a two-stroke lead over Jon Rahm and four others after the first round of The American Express. The 23-year-old Thompson got off to a brilliant start by birdieing three of the first four holes and then making eagle on both par 5s on the front nine, Nos. 5 and 6. He made the turn in 8-under 28, the lowest front-nine score at La Quinta. That flawless start on a sunny day in the Southern California desert put Thompson two clear of Rahm, Tyler Duncan, Taylor Montgomery, Matti Schmid and Sam Burns. “I just got off to a hot start and just kind of coasted on my way in,” said Thompson, who finished with a birdie. “It’s always good to see some putts go in early and give you confidence to just keep it rolling.” Rahm, the world’s fourth-ranked player who won two weeks ago at Kapalua, shot 64 at La Quinta, one of three courses being used for the first three rounds. After the cut at 54 holes, the final round will be played at the Stadium Course at PGA West. “I’ll be picky about a lot of things. But it’s a great start to the tournament,” Rahm said. “You can’t really win it on this golf course, but you can sure fall off the pace. It’s a great start, solid round of golf, great putting out there. Hopefully I can keep that going the whole week and feel a little bit better tee to green.” The field includes five of the top seven players in the world and 10 of the top 20. Sixth-ranked Xander Schauffele, in the field after having tests on muscle spasms in his back, was in a group of nine at 7-under 65. He also eagled No. 5 at La Quinta. Second-ranked Scottie Scheffler and No. 5 Patrick Cantlay each shot 68 at La Quinta, and No. 7 Will Zalatoris had a 3-under 69 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course. Thompson said he had a good warmup and then “had good numbers” on the holes where he made eagle. “I actually missed the green on 6 and chipped in. I put two good swings on it and had a really nice chip and a really good putt,” he said. While this was his first competitive round at PGA West, Thompson said he stopped here and played the Nicklaus course before going to Hawaii for last week’s Sony Open in Hawaii. “So I was a little familiar with it,” said Thompson, who will play that course on Friday. Rickie Fowler shot 68 at La Quinta. Fowler is playing his first tournament of 2023 after having two top 10s in the fall, including a runner-up finish at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan.

LA QUINTA, Calif. - Xander Schauffele admits he doesn't feel 100%, returning to action at The American Express after withdrawing from the Sentry Tournament of Champions two weeks ago with a back injury. "Right now, it's a little sporadic," Schauffele said Thursday. "Bad swings don't feel great. Good swings don't feel bad at all." Fortunately, he made plenty of good swings in his competitive return. Schauffele opened The American Express with a 7-under 65 Thursday at La Quinta CC, three back of leader Davis Thompson, who carded 10-under 62, also at La Quinta. The American Express features a three-course rotation across La Quinta CC and PGA West's Nicklaus Tournament Course and Stadium Course; Sunday's final round will be played at the Stadium Course. Playing alongside good friend and Presidents Cup partner Patrick Cantlay, Schauffele rebounded from his only bogey of the day at No. 2 with six birdies and an eagle the rest of the way. He credited tee-shot control on a tree-lined La Quinta layout for his good play; he hit 10 of 14 fairways on the day. After withdrawing from the Sentry on the ninth hole of the second round - "flinching at drives and chunking irons," he said at the time - Schauffele returned home and underwent scans and an MRI to diagnose the back pain, a first in his career, which initially arose at the Hero World Challenge in December. The diagnosis was muscular - no tear - with a straightforward recovery plan of rest to overcome soreness. That's easier said than done, of course. "Trying to be as patient as possible to take things as slow as possible in terms of getting too many reps in," Schauffele said in Wednesday's pre-tournament press conference. "But I’m known to try to practice too much at times. I’m trying to take this one slow, so I don't hurt it again or do something of that nature." Schauffele didn't want to rush back to action, but he didn't want to stay idle for long. It was a wait-and-see approach into the week. Thursday morning, he was ready to roll. "I always joke with my wife, saying I'm a very day-to-day person, and it was testing my patience with the whole day-to-day," Schauffele said Thursday. "Some days I'd feel 4 or 5 out of 10, and I'd be like, ‘You know, I'm like 50-50,' because you just want to compete at a high level when you do play, and you never want to show up with sort of half your game. "I wouldn't say I'm at 100% ... a lot of it is mental at this point. As soon as you feel some sort of tweak or injury, it becomes very mental, and you have to combat that as well. Just trying to be really committed, knowing that I have a really good team surrounding me, and I trust everyone that's giving me the advice that they're giving." And with more rounds like Thursday, all should be well. "If I keep making good swings," he said, "I should be good to go."