Moore flirts with jackpot of 59 in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS American Ryan Moore flirted with golf’s magical jackpot, a 59, before he bogeyed his penultimate hole on the way to a sizzling 10-under-par 61 in Thursday’s opening round of the Las Vegas Open.
Moore, who began his round at the par-four 10th, missed the green to the left with his tee shot at the short eighth but was otherwise delighted with his spectacular form in near-perfect scoring conditions in the Nevada desert.
“It was one of those days that you just keep putting it in play,” said the 29-year-old Las Vegas resident, who has played the TPC Summerlin layout countless times. “You know you’re going to have a bunch of pitching wedges, nine-irons, eight-irons into these greens.
“As solid as I’m hitting it right now, that’s just kind of my key. I know I’m going to have enough pretty darn good birdie chances if I’m just in the fairway with them.
“The bogey there on my 17th hole, No. 8, I wasn’t too happy about, but it was great to bounce back with a birdie on the ninth hole.” Moore, who won his only PGA Tour title at the 2009 Wyndham Championship, piled up nine birdies and an eagle at the par-four 15th to end the opening round of the Fall Series event with an early one-stroke lead over Zimbabwe’s Brendan de Jonge.
Americans Tim Herron and tour rookie John Huh opened with 63s while compatriots Justin Leonard and Chris Kirk returned 64s.
However, Moore commanded the spotlight as he raced to the turn in a scintillating seven-under 29, raising hopes of becoming only the sixth player to shoot a 59 on the PGA Tour.
He picked up further shots at the first, fifth and seventh before his red-hot momentum stalled with his bogey at the eighth.
“I’ve just been playing good, solid golf lately,” said Moore, who two weeks ago tied for third in the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the lucrative Tour Championship in Atlanta.
“On a golf course like this, I’m probably more comfortable. I’ve played it more this year than any other. It was just one of those nice days. Got off to a great start, seven under on the front nine and just kind of cruised the next nine.” American Al Geiberger was the first player to break 60 on the PGA Tour, shooting a 13-under-par 59 in the second round of the 1977 Memphis Classic.
Chip Beck was the next to do so, in the third round of the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational, and David Duval became the third, in the fifth and final round of the 1999 Bob Hope Classic.
Paul Goydos achieved the feat when he shot a 59 in the opening round of the John Deere Classic in 2010, while Australia’s Stuart Appleby achieved it during the final round of the Greenbrier Classic to clinch victory less than a month later.
Choi steals show
In Seoul, veteran South Korean K.J. Choi delighted home crowds at the CJ Invitational yesterday, hitting eight birdies to join Chinnarat Phadungsil at the top of the leaderboard before darkness halted play early.
Choi, the tournament host, started his second round five shots behind overnight leader Ryan Yip of Canada but hit four birdies in his first six holes and made the turn in 32, holing another four birdies before the light dwindled.
“When I got my first birdie on the opening hole, the confidence started coming back and I had this feeling that I was going to do very well today,” said Choi, 42, who is on 10-under par after 14 holes of his second round.
A round of 64 from 23-year-old Chinnarat, including eight birdies, gave him the clubhouse lead, putting him in a strong position to end his three-year title drought with a two-day total of 10-under-par 132.
“It was really cold when I started on the first hole. I hit my first shot onto the fairway but hit a bad second shot. I managed to recover quickly by hitting a lot of good shots and I also managed to putt well,” said Chinnarat.
Chinnarat — the Asian Tour’s youngest winner when he won his first title just days after his 17th birthday — has a total of three Tour wins.
South Korea’s Lee Sung struck a 68 for a share of third place with Yip, who posted a 71 after fog led to the loss of two hours’ play at the Haesley Nine Bridges Golf Club.