Putting tips lead to Miller’s one-shot Forme Open lead

 

First-Round Leaderboard

Forme Open at TPC River’s Bend

TPC River’s Bend

Maineville, Ohio

August 18, 2021

 

 

Full Leaderboard: 

Pos.	Name	Scores	Current Points List Position
1	Brad Miller	31-32—63 (-9)	76
T2	Turk Pettit (U.S.)	35-29—64 (-8)	2
T2	Stoney Crouch (U.S.)	34-30—64 (-8)	T116
T2	Tee-K Kelly (U.S.)	34-30—64 (-8)	24
T2	Mac Meissner (U.S.)	31-33—64 (-8)	3
T2	Carson Young (U.S.)	32-32—64 (-8)	62
T7	Jeffrey Swegle (U.S.)	31-34—65 (-7)	128
T7	Brian Richey (U.S.)	33-32—65 (-7)	N/A
T9	Alexandre Fuchs (France)	33-33—66 (-6)	31
T9	Jared du Toit (Canada)	32-34—66 (-6)	54
T9	Max Marsico (U.S.)	33-33—66 (-6)	71
T9	Cody Blick (U.S.)	33-33—66 (-6)	95
T9	Corey Shaun (U.S.)	30-36—66 (-6)	98

 

Putting tips lead to Miller’s one-shot Forme Open lead

 

MAINEVILLE, Ohio—After missing the cut last week at The Fuzzy Zoeller Classic, Brad Miller traveled home to suburban Baltimore (Timonium), focused on his putting. He swung by Green Spring Valley Hunt Club, where he talked to head pro Mike Adkins, then Miller paid a visit

to his coach, Pat Coyner, at Baltimore Country Club. Miller’s chats paid off handsomely as the Korn Ferry Tour member rebounded from the disappointment of last week’s missed cut by shooting a bogey-free, 9-under 63 to lead at the Forme Open at TPC River’s Bend. The quintet of Turk Pettit, Stoney Crouch, Tee-K Kelly, Mac Meissner and Carson Young are a stroke behind

“The fairways are pretty generous, and, quite honestly, I’ve been struggling with my driver,” Miller said of his work off the tee. “I didn’t think my game was too far off last week. The greens here are perfect. If I can get the putter going, this is what happens, I guess.”

None of Miller’s birdies was more dramatic than his 35-footer he made at No. 5, his 14th hole of the day. On the par-3, he played it safe off the tee, leaving his tee shot 35 feet from the cup.

“It was one of those [putts] that was downhill enough that all I needed to do was get it going and let whatever happen happen,” Miller said. “I did have a really nice read on it. It straightened up at the end, which I saw from the other side of the hole.”

That moved the University of Richmond product to 7-under for the day, that birdie in the middle of a three-in-a-row streak. He added one more birdie, at the par-5 eighth, for the 63—his lowest PGA TOUR-affiliated Tour 18-hole score. He three times shot 64 on the 2018 Mackenzie Tour, and he had a 66 for his low Korn Ferry Tour round.

“Anything below 65—I wouldn’t call it a surprise—is nice. I feel like I’ve been playing good. I’ve just been scoring terribly,” Miller added.

Meissner, winner of the Bolingbrook Golf Club Invitational, continued his consistent play, his 8-under 64 the fourth time this season he’s gone 65 or better.

“I gave myself a lot of really good looks inside 10 feet. I hit my irons awesome and capitalized on a couple of those,” said Meissner, third on the Points List. “I had a couple of good looks on the back (nine) but didn’t make those, unfortunately. Eight-under is always a good start.”

Pettit, coming off his lone missed cut of the season last week, had a relatively quiet front nine (the back nine at TPFC River’s Bend). He made eight consecutive pars to begin his day before making birdie at his ninth. That began a string of five consecutive birdies, moving him to 5-under through 13 holes. He followed with three straight pars before he eagled the par-5 eighth hole and added a birdie at No. 9, his closing hole to shoot a 7-under 29 and a cumulative 8-under 64.

Kelly has had an up-and-down summer, making two cuts in five starts. One of his made cuts was a tie for third at the Birck Boilermaker Classic, which has helped him to his 24th-place position on the Points List. His highlight this summer was his win at the 72nd playing of the Illinois Open, where he went wire to wire for a three-shot victory and a $25,000 payday.

Crouch has suffered through a somewhat forgettable summer. He’s played in four of the five previous events, making only one cut—a tie for 33rd at the Bolingbrook Golf Club Invitational. Wednesday’s 64 was easily his best 18-hole score of the season and only his second sub-70 effort in eight previous rounds. He had a 5-under 67 at the Bolingbrook Golf Club Invitational outside Chicago in mid-July. After a 2-under 34 on his opening nine, Crouch had what he called a “snowball effect” when he made a 10-foot birdie at his 10th hole (No. 1) and a two-putt birdie at the par-5 second. Crouch rolled in a 15-footer at his 13th then went par-birdie on his next two holes before tapping in twice for his final two birdies of the day, at the par-3 16th and the par-4 17th. “Overall, a very solid day,” the former Lipscomb University golfer said.

Young was the last player to join the group in second. He eagled the 18th hole, his ninth hole of the day, then finished his second nine with back-to-back birdies for the 64.

Did you know as an amateur, Turk Pettit reached as high as No. 13 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking? The former Clemson Tiger won his final start as an amateur, taking the 2021 NCAA Championship individual title in May. By winning at the NCAAs, Pettit joined former PGA TOUR player Charles Warren as the only two Clemson golfers to claim the individual title.

 

Key Information

• Of the six tournament champions this season, Turk Pettit and Mac Meissner had the best opening days, shooting 8-under 64s to sit in a tie for second with 54 holes to play. Other under-par rounds from past champions came from Philip Knowles (4-under 68) and Trevor Werbylo (2-under 70).
• The five consecutive birdies Turk Pettit and Jeffrey Swegle made Wednesday tie them for the second-longest birdie streak this season. Both Cooper Musselman and Jared du Toit made six in a row last week at The Fuzzy Zoeller Classic. Eleven other players, along with Pettit and Swegle, have made five consecutive birdies this season—with Brandon P. Smith making five in a row twice, at the Bolingbrook Golf Club Invitational and again last week at The Fuzzy Zoeller Classic.
• To this point, it’s been a disappointing season for Jeffrey Swegle, who has only made one cut in five previous Forme Tour starts. He put himself in solid position to play on the “weekend” for a second time with his opening, 7-under 65, easily his low score of the year, bettering the 68 in the first round of the Bolingbrook Golf Club Invitational.
• When Jeffrey Swegle missed the cut at the season-opening L&J Golf Championship at Jennings Mill Country Club, he did a good turn, sticking around for the final two rounds to caddie for Isaiah Salinda. With Swegle on the bag, he watched as his former Stanford teammate went on to tie for 15th.
• Tain Lee made the turn at 4-under 36, playing TPC River’s Bend’s back nine first. After making a par and a birdie to start his back nine to move to 5-under for the day, he parred out for his opening 67.
• This is the second consecutive tournament where Tain Lee has opened with a 67. He shot a first-round, 4-under 67 last week at the Fuzzy Zoeller Classic at Covered Bridge Golf Club. With his 67 Wednesday, Lee has had seven consecutive under-par rounds, dating to the first round of the Bolingbrook Golf Club Invitational.
• Of the eight PGA TOUR University alums in the field this week, Mac Meissner had the best opening day, shooting an 8-under 64. Others under-par are Quade Cummins (3-under 69), Michael Feagles (3-under 69), Benjamin Shipp (2-under 70), Trevor Werbylo (2-under 70) and Alex Schaake (1-under 71).
• Here’s a look at how the eight open-qualifiers into this week’s tournament fared on the opening day: Matt Harris (tied for 13th), Ashton Van Horne (tied for 25th), Davis Shore (tied for 40th), Graysen Huff (tied for 55th), Fred Meyer (55th tied for), Maximilian Mehles (tied for 55th), Shawn Tipton (tied for 89th), and Baylor Payne (tied for 154th).
• Matt Harris is making the first PGA TOUR-affiliated Tour start of his career. In his opening round, all Harris did was make six birdies and one bogey for an opening, 5-under 67. He’s tied for 13th.
• Entering this week, Trevor Werbylo not only led the Points List but he had also recorded the most birdies this season—108. He added four more Wednesday. No. 2 on the list is Luke Schniederjans. He began the day with 96 and added five to his total.
• France’s Alexander Fuchs continued his streak of solid play with his eighth consecutive under-par round, a 6-under 66. Fuchs has had an interesting season. After holding a share of the third-round lead at the season-opening L&J Golf Championship at Jennings Mill Country Club in late-June and eventually tying for ninth, the former Liberty University golfer missed his next two cuts. He bounced back with a tie for 13th at the Birck Boilermaker Classic before tying for 44^th last week at the Fuzzy Zoeller Classic. Through 18 holes this week, Fuchs is tied for eighth.

 

Quotable

“It reminds me of a couple of courses I really like; actually, TPC Toronto. It reminded me a lot of that course. I played well there.” –Brad Miller

 

“I was playing good at the time. I was 6-under, so at that point I was trying to keep doing the same stuff. That was a bonus.” –Brad Miller on his 35-foot birdie putt at No. 5, his 14th hole of the day

 

“I hit it straight off the tee, and I played from the fairway. I might have missed one fairway. If I did, it was just off the edge.” –Stoney Crouch

 

“It hasn’t been that great; good round today, so let’s see if I can keep it going for the rest of the week.” –Stoney Crouch assessing his Forme Tour season

 

“I think playing from the fairways. When you’re in the fairway, you can attack the course. There are more than enough wedges out there to give yourself some good looks. That’s the biggest thing from this course.” –Stoney Crouch on the best way to attack TPC River’s Bend

 

“I played really solid. I kept it in play all day and wedged it pretty well. I didn’t have any real mistakes.” –Jared du Toit

 

“Whenever you go bogey-free, that’s always nice. It’s kind of cliché, but you say it all the time: take care of the ball, keep it out of trouble and you like your chances.” –Jared du Toit

 

“I love it down there. I wish it loved me more. I haven’t played my best down there.” –Jared du Toit on playing on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica

 

“I was able to get some good practice days in and work on a couple of things.” –Tee-K Kelly on how he spent his weekend after missing the cut

 

“It’s great to have my brother (Will) with me on the road. We’re just hanging out and practicing together.” –Tee-K Kelly

 

“I felt really ready this week and felt super pumped to have a good round.” –Tee-K Kelly

 

“Last week I played really well. I just didn’t make any putts.” –Mac Meissner on last week’s missed cut

 

“I had a lot of confidence coming into this week. I knew if my putter heated up, I would play well.” –Mac Meissner

First-Round Weather:

Overcast and warm, with an afternoon trace of rain. High of 86. Wind WNW at 2-5 mph.