Lucas Glover fired a six-under
65 on Tuesday to take the first-round lead of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at
Port Royal Golf Club.
The reigning U.S. Open champion is two clear of British Open winner Stewart
Cink after his four-under 67 in round one. Masters winner Angel Cabrera had a
one-under 70 for third place and Y.E. Yang, the PGA Champion, is fourth thanks
to an even-par 71.
This event is reserved for golf's four major winners of 2009 and it was the
champion at Bethpage Black in June that vaulted to the top of the leaderboard
on Tuesday.
Glover's first birdie came at the par-three third. He sank an eight-foot
birdie putt at three and followed with a long birdie putt at the fourth from
across the green.
"That was a hit-and-hope and it just went in," said Glover. "It had to be 50,
60 feet."
Glover's other front-nine birdie came at the par-five seventh. He hit a
driver, then reached the green with a six-iron. Glover two-putted for birdie
to reach three-under par.
He flew out of the gate on the second nine with a four-foot birdie putt at the
10th. Glover knocked a nine-iron to 10 feet at the 11th for his second birdie
in a row.
Glover bogeyed the 225-yard, par-three 13th, but two holes later reclaimed the
lost stroke with a tap-in birdie at 15. At the next par three, the 16th, which
measured 235 yards, Glover posted another bogey to fall to four-under for the
championship.
"It's a shame because it's so pretty but it's so hard," said Glover of 16. "I
think we had a little four-, five-minute break there just taking it all in. We
had a good time on that tee and we all hit pretty bad shots."
Glover atoned for that error with a 30-foot eagle putt at the par-five 17th.
He parred the last for his 65 and the first-round lead.
This was a good day for Glover, who didn't play particularly well two weeks
ago at the Presidents Cup.
"Stewart and I were joking, we both played well today, where was that last
week, that kind of thing," said Glover, who went 0-3-1 at Harding Park, but
all three of his losses were with Cink as his partner. "I didn't hole much at
The Presidents Cup, so pretty excited to see some go in."
There will be 18 holes on Wednesday to determine the champion.
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