BRENDON de Jonge bounced back from last weekend’s missed cut with a solid opening round at the Waste Management Phoenix Open before play was suspended due to darkness in Scottsdale, Arizona on Thursday.
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The 33-year-old Zimbabwean golfer was tied for 10th position and just two shots off the clubhouse lead after carding five-under par 66 on the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale. After managing just one birdie and a bogey on the front nine, De Jonge delivered a putting master class on the back nine, piling up six birdies to storm into early contention.
De Jonge was expected to play in the second round last night. American Bubba Watson and South Korea’s YE Yang fired matching 7-under 64s Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
The former major winners sat a stroke ahead of Harris English, Kevin Stadler, William McGirt, Matt Jones, Chris Kirk, Pat Perez and Greg Chalmers, who all carded a 6-under 65.
Hunter Mahan, Keegan Bradley, Ryan Moore, Tommy Gainey, Jason Kokrak, Brendan Steele, Hideki Matsuyama and de Jonge were tied for 10th at 5-under 66.
Defending champion Phil Mickelson, who was forced to withdraw from last week’s Farmers Insurance Open due to muscle pain in his lower back, posted an up-and- down even-par 71 to sit among a large group of players tied for 65th place.
De Jonge will be hoping to draw inspiration from his performance at the same tournament last year when he recorded his best finish on the PGA Tour after finishing tied in sixth place.
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The burly Harare-born golfer managed scores of 66, 67, 67 and 66 at last year’s edition of the Waste Management Phoenix Open for an impressive 18-under-par total.
