Every, McDowell open narrow lead
Matt Every and Graeme McDowell will take a one-shot lead into round two of the RBC Heritage on Friday after carding scores of five-under 66 on day one.
Every hit just eight fairways and seven greens on the day, but was saved by his short game and shot six birdies and one bogey.
“Man, my short game was… the best it’s been in a long time. I saved a ton of shots. I probably shouldn’t have shot five-under, more like even, but I’ll take it,” he told PGATour.com.
“The Harbour Town course wasn’t playing that easy either, but I got a lot out of my game, for sure. It’s nice. I felt like I stole one; I probably stole five or six shots today.”
While Every’s only bogey came on the 18th hole McDowell’s exceeded par on the first.
The Northern Irishman went on to shoot birdies on the second, fifth, seventh, tenth, 12th and 13th holes to match Every’s score.
Sangmoon Bae is third on four-under after he shot five birdies and a bogey on Thursday.
While Americans Kevin Kisner, Scott Langley, Matt Kuchar and Morgan Hoffman are tied for fourth on three under along with New Zealand’s Cameron Smith.
Meanwhile, newly-crowned Master Tournament champion Jordan Spieth had a poor round and is tied for 93rd on three-over.
The 21-year-old is the first Masters winner to take part in the tournament since Zach Johnson in 2007.
Spieth admitted to suffering from the dreaded “Masters Hangover” in round one, but said he was determined to make the cut.
“I like this course a lot. I didn’t expect myself to shoot six under or eight under in the first round but I’m still riding enough momentum and playing well enough to shoot an under par around here,” he said.
“I’ve got to play well on Friday to be able to play the weekend here and it’s certainly something I want to do.”
Should Spieth, who is Bet Bright’s odds-on favourite to top the 2015 PGA Tour World Money List, make a miracle recovery and go on to win at Harbour Town, he will be the first Masters champion to do so since Bernhard Langer in 1985.
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