Maybe now that Harris English has the first-ever ace at No. 15 during the Tour Championship, he’ll stop getting confused with Hudson Swafford.
English, a fellow Georgia Bulldog with Swafford, had a hole-in-one at the 225-yard par-3 in Thursday’s first round. English, who used a 5-iron to hit the green surrounded by water, followed with birdies at Nos. 16 and 17. He lipped out another birdie attempt at No. 18 to finish the day 4 under on the round and is now 8 under for the staggered start tournament, tied for third place and five strokes behind leader Patrick Cantlay.
A fan, who perhaps had too much to drink, kept calling English by the wrong name until he finally was corrected.
“I find it funny,” English said of the confusion with Swafford. “He gets it the same. I mean, we have had it since I was probably 14 years old. So, it is what it is. I find it funny.”
Coming to No. 15 at even par on the day – with one birdie and one bogey – English said he was just aiming for the middle of the green. Bingo. His tee shot hit the green and rolled until it found the bottom of the cup.
“It’s not easy,” English said. “I mean, you have to really zone in on target. I was aiming middle of the green and kind of, I guess, pulled it a smidge. But it’s one of those holes where I’m just picking a spot in the middle of the green and taking 20 feet every single time and getting out of there.”
The ace will cost English. He said he will owe his caddie a bottle of wine. English also sent beer to the press room.
Garcia starts in style
Sergio Garcia got the Tour Championship off to a fine start – with a little history – Thursday.
Playing in the second group to start the first round of the tournament, Garcia holed out from the fairway on No. 1 for an eagle. On the par-4, 469-yard hole, Garcia one-hopped his ball into the cup from 160 yards with an 8-iron. With two swings, Garcia went from even to 2 under par, moving from a tie for 30th to a tie for 21st.
Garcia, the second-oldest player in the 30-man field at 41, became the first player to eagle the hole at the Tour Championship since at least 2000. East Lake became the permanent home of the Tour Championship in 2004. The hole played as No. 10 until 2016 when the courses’ front and back nine were reversed. The course also hosted the Tour Championship in 1998.
Ryder Cup dinner
With the final selections for the Ryder Cup coming, captain Steve Stricker and the six automatic qualifiers had dinner Wednesday night. Around the table were the six players with guaranteed spots in Collin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Cantlay.
It could have made for some awkward moments between DeChambeau and Koepka, who are in the midst of a well-publicized feud. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan addressed unruly fan behavior before the tournament as the issue between players has drawn some outburst from spectators heckling DeChambeau, who continues not to speak with media members.
Koepka said the two did not discuss their personal ongoing situation. However, he did address Monahan’s statements for spectators to behave with more respect toward players.
“I mean, I get it,” Koepka said. “Try to be as, everybody’s trying to be as respectful as you can. Between me, the fans, everybody, try to live their life like that. So, I think we all can do a better job. But at the same time, it’s fine.”
Stricker will make six captain’s picks to round out the 12-player team before the event at the end of September. There was plenty discussed at the dinner, including strategy and possible pairings.
“It was exciting to finally put all of us, or six of us, in one room and just start talking about what we’re going to do in a few weeks,” Morikawa said. “Look, the end goal is to win, and Stricker knows that. I think everyone knows that. I think looking at the past, obviously the history of the U.S. team hasn’t been great, but we are here to change that. That I think everyone knows that, and we’re all going to do our part to help out the team as much as we can.”
Low/high round
*Billy Horschel had the low round of the day, shooting 5 under par. It moved him to 5 under for the tournament, moving from 29th to a tie for 10th.
*Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama had the high round of the day, shooting 7 over par. He is now 6 over for the tournament, dropping him to last place.
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