US Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker is just two off the lead after opening 65 at the Phoenix Open | Golf News

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker stole the headlines from the likes of Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy on the first day of the Phoenix Open, the 53-year-old opening with six under-65s to get within two shots of the lead.

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The best of action from day one at TPC Scottsdale, where stars dragged Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy were overtaken by US Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker.

Steve Stricker showed his prospective players for the Ryder Cup how they should compromise TPC Scottsdale as he made a real start at the Phoenix Open Management Championship.

The U.S. Ryder Cup captain shot six under-65s to sit just two sights behind first-round leaders Matthew NeSmith and Mark Hubbard, putting lead actors Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy firmly in the shadows amid calm sentiment at the usual- frenzied Arizona center.

Rahm moved the last one to give 69 a pass, Thomas was successfully placed at four under until a soft-triple at the 17th destroyed much of his early scoring, and McIlroy did well to end the day. under par has been three over just two holes into his first-round pick at the tournament.

The first wave made up mostly low scores, with NeSmith covering the back nine in just 30 hits including a long hole out of a bunker for an eagle at the 13th. followed by three birdies over the next four holes.

Rory McIlroy dug deep to get past a poor start

NeSmith took two more shots on the front half to post a 63-yarder that matched only Hubbard, who came into a part of the clubhouse’s lead when he grabbed five of the last six holes. , while Nate Lashley and Sam Burns got inside one.

Stricker won the best of the starters after that, trimming his approach to the final pitch from a fairway trap to 13 feet and changing the chance for his seventh birdie of a unique day , which also featured rear birdie buttons from 20 to 30 feet at the ninth and 10th.

“I felt like veteran Steve Stricker,” said the veteran, who will celebrate his 54th birthday later this month. “I don’t feel 53 or 54. I feel like there’s still a bit of a game left in me.”

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Stricker, who put off one of the best par saves on the first day after recovering from his 15th position long into the water, hopes the his day was a omen in his bid to regain the Ryder Cup in his native Wisconsin in September, defeating team-mate and European captain Patrick Harrington by six blows.

“Paddy knows what’s coming when he comes here in September,” said Striker, who won his last PGA Tour nine years ago. “Hopefully we can put together a good team and play well and bring that Cup back home where it belongs.”

World No 4 followed Xander Schauffele, who was Patrick Reed’s runner-up at last week’s Farmers Insurance Championship, off to a good start to the year with 66, and Jordan Spieth showed off scenes of his own old one with five-birdie 67 inspirational.

Jon Rahm posted his only photo of the first day at the final hole

Brooks Koepka opened with 68 despite a six-bogey at the second, and Jon Rahm was also three under for the round but it was hard to release his one last shot, where drove into a bunker, dropped the second one to the edge and left his first putt 10 feet short.

“That bogey just makes him feel a lot worse than he really is,” said world No. 2, who has not finished less than 16 in his four shows at TPC Scottsdale. “I was four-under and bogey-free through 17 without my favorite stuff.

“I scratched very early, and against that nine I did two under and it could have been a lot worse. Back nine I played a little better, but it was just too bad at 18.” All to all, with what was, for the most part, not my A game, it was all around. “

Thomas dug a 40-footer for his fourth birdie of the day at 14, but made a mess of the 17th and thinned a bunker splashing out into the water before adding to that error with a four-foot missile as he slipped. e to one under with McIlroy.

The Phoenix debater also got a bunker trouble on his opening hole at the 10th, running up a six-bogey six and dropping another bullet at 11 after stopping into the trees on the right. , though he responded well with three birdies in four holes, with a chip-in for two at the infamous 16th.

McIlroy was looking forward to breaking 70 when he hit the second and third, but with a bunkered tee shot at eighth came another bogey and left a hard performance on Friday to ensure a it around for the weekend.