Scott, Haas share first-round lead
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. - Adam Scott had five birdies and a lone bogey and shared the lead with Hunter Haas at 4 under par after the first round of the AT&T National. Haas’ round included a run of four straight birdies, Nos. 13, 14, 15 and 16, after he started on the back nine. Jhonattan Vegas was among the group at 3 under 67, which included Joe Ogilvie, Dean Wilson and Kyle Stanley, all four of which came from the morning wave.Beyond the good score to start the tournament, Scott seems to be in a good place on the golf course.
“Yeah, very happy with everything,” Scott said. “My game is in a good place, I just haven’t really brought it all out yet. There were glimpses of it there at the Masters on Sunday where I felt great, and it was great to play good in that position, but, uh, (I) haven’t really jumped out of the gate since then and that’s why I came here. I know I’m playing good. I’d love to get in a good result before maybe going into the Open Championship. So, it ‘s nice to get out of the gates fast and maybe get in the mix right from the get go.”
The Masters was no doubt a huge boost of confidence for the talented Scott. He tied for second in Augusta along with fellow countryman Jason Day. There’s no doubt he wants to get into contention at a major again soon, and it seems obvious from his remarks that he has at least one eye on the next one up, the Open Championship at Royal St. Georges in two weeks time.
Vegas has had an up and down rookie season so far, having won a playoff in only his second start of the year at the Bob Hope Classic, a tie for third the following week at Torrey Pines and then a run of seven missed cuts in his next 12 starts. He has bounced back with a T32 in Memphis and a T33 last week in Hartford.
Although he has put a lot of expectations on himself for this season, the early win has required lots of time to do international media and pressure from an unlikely source, his home country of Venezuela. You see, the natives of Venezuela don’t know very much about golf, or, the tour Vegas plays on.
“It's been really tough because being a foreign player, especially coming from a country that has no idea about golf, the demands internationally are really tough, and that's something that I really have been having to deal with, and it's been taking a lot of my time,” the likable Vegas said.
“The thing that I realized after a few weeks of playing horrible is that mentally you really get worn out if you're not careful, having to deal with so many things, the media back home, and trying to explain to everyone what really golf is and finishing top 20 in a tour event is not the end of the world because the people keep asking, ‘Why did you finish 19th, are you kidding, what a horrible week.’ I'm like, ‘Really?’
“So it's been hard having to deal with all that stuff, but I'm taking it as it goes and being a little bit more patient and just trying to just focus on myself a little more.”
There were 10 players tied for seventh at 2 under, including Vijay Singh, Pat Perez, Robert Garrigus, Troy Matteson and Rickie Fowler.
Justin Rose began the defense of his title with a level par 70, and trails by four.
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