Reed more than up to Humana Challenge
Associated Press
la quinta, calif.
Patrick Reed went low in perfect scoring and weather conditions Thursday at the Humana Challenge. He wasn’t alone.
Reed ran off five straight birdies in the middle of his round on PGA West’s Arnold Palmer Private Course and finished with a bogey-free 9-under 63 to tie his career low.
“The course is in perfect shape,” said Reed, the Wyndham Championship winner in August. “The rough isn’t very high, the fairways are perfect and the greens are rolling very true. That’s the main thing to being successful out here is with how great the conditions are, that if you’re hitting putts on line, they’re going to go in, no matter what.”
Ryan Palmer, Justin Hicks, Daniel Summerhays and Charley Hoffman shot 64.
Warren JFK High School graduate Jason Kokrak shot 67. He birdied Nos. 6, 9, 10, 13 and 15. He eagled No. 16, but had a double bogey on No. 18 at the Jack Nicklaus Private Course.
Reed started on the back nine and birdied Nos. 16-18 and 1-2 to get to 7-under. He added birdies on Nos. 6 and 7.
“I started out a little struggling with the driver, had some lefts in it, but luckily I missed it in the right spots,” Reed said. “I was really confident with my irons, kept hitting greens and all of a sudden, 10-, 12-, 15-, 20-foot putts started going in.”
With wife Justine pregnant with their first child, her brother, Kessler Karain, is subbing as Reed’s caddie. Justine has walked every hole with her husband this year and plans to rejoin him inside the ropes after the baby girl arrives. The due date is Memorial Day.
“We can’t wait for that,” Reed said. “I’m excited to be a dad.”
Palmer birdied his final six holes and nine of his last 12 on the Palmer course, the site of the final round Sunday.
“I wasn’t making a whole lot of long putts, just hitting it close,” Moore said.
Hicks had an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey on the Jack Nicklaus Private Course.
“Just trying to give myself as many opportunities as I can,” Hicks said.
Summerhays birdied seven of his last 10 on the Nicklaus course. Hoffman, the 2007 winner, had an eagle and six birdies at La Quinta Country Club.
With a high temperature in the mid-80s and only a gentle morning breeze off the Santa Rosa Mountains, the players averaged 69.692 on the Palmer course, 69.431 on the Nicklaus layout, and 70.192 at La Quinta.
Kapalua winner Zach Johnson topped the group at 65. He played at La Quinta.
“The greens over there are, I don’t even know how to explain them, it’s like carpet,” Johnson said. “I mean, they’re just so good. I don’t know what they do over there, but they look artificial. They’re like this every year, but they’re as good as I’ve ever seen.”
Defending champion Brian Gay also had a 69 at La Quinta.