Lucas Glover –Triumphed In SBS Championship

Glover, who made only two eagles in 26 tournaments last year, just recovered from a double bogey on his opening hole by going nine-under par over a nine-hole stretch in the middle of the round. And then, he finished it offwith a tap-in birdie for a seven-under 66 on Thursday and a one-shot lead in the season-opening SBS Championship.
The last time Glover qualified for this winners-only tournament, he began his season with four straight bogeys. At this time, he hit a weak 4-iron that disappeared into the native shrubs and led to a double bogey.

Nathan Green and Martin Laird, among seven players making their debuts at Kapalua, joined Dustin Johnson and Nick Watson at 67. The British Open champion Stewart Cink and the Masters champion Ángel Cabrera were among those at 68.

 

The wind finally switched to its normal direction - the trades - and it was mild enough to make scoring relatively easy. Mark Wilson (74) and Heath Slocum (75) were the only players over par in the 28-man field.

 

The key to Glover's success last year, when he won the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, was to not be so hard on himself. He was tested immediately with his double bogey, and it didn't bother him in the least.

 

Green felt particularly good after his worst shot of the day. He hit it left of the green on the par-3 eighth and tried to play it from the weeds, but the thick grass grabbed the hosel of the club and pulled it straight to the left. Green feared it was going to take the head off a woman, one of about 10 people in his gallery, but it hit her in the arm.

 

"I actually said, 'Sorry,' while the ball was still on the club face," Green said.

From some 30 yards beyond the green, he chipped to 6 feet and got out of there with a bogey.

 

"That's the stuff I wasn't doing much at all last year," Green said. "If I had a slightly good break like that, I wouldn't make the most of it. I wouldn't manage to get it up and down."

 

He settled down after that with four birdies on the back nine.

 

Johnson had eight birdies to offset a few mistakes, which are expected this time of the year. Laird had the honor of hitting the opening tee shot of the 2010 season, and he split the middle of the fairway, which isn't hard to do since it's about 80 yards wide.

 

Watney played with Johnson, and both kept it pretty simple. He said, "It was just really - I hate saying it - an easy day out here".

 

Well, may be just everyone was optimistic about a new year.

 

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