Pampling shoots sizzling 60 to lead in Las Vegas

Pampling shoots sizzling 60 to lead in Las Vegas

Rod Pampling of Australia lines up a putt on the  一 八th green during the first round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open on Thursday. AFP/VNA Photo

Golf

LOS ANGELES — Australian Rod Pampling fired a blistering  一 一-under par  六0 to seize the US PGA Tour lead on Thursday in Las Vegas, where two closing pars left him shy of a  五 九.

The  四 七-year-old veteran’s  一 二-foot birdie putt at  一 八 rolled left to deny him a spot in the exclusive club of golfers to shoot  五 九 in competition.

He had left a  二 一-footer at  一 七 just short.

Pampling, who had two eagles and seven birdies in his first  一 六 holes, wasn’t too disappointed.

He knew he was doing something special after he stuck his three-iron second shot at the par-five  一 六th within a foot for his second eagle of the day.

"When I hit it close on  一 六, that got my attention as to this is a really good  round,公众Pampling said. "The putt on  一 七 just fell short in the jaws and on  一 八 I gave myself a bad read.

"I thought it was straight, but it just had that little left-to-right. I would have loved to have made one for a  五 九, but it was just a good solid day all around."

Pampling claimed his most recent PGA Tour title at the  二00 六 Arnold Palmer Invitational. He had to head back to the developmental Web.com Tour Finals to regain his playing privileges.

His sparkling effort had him two strokes in front of John Huh and Brooks Koepka, who both shot  六 二 at TPC Su妹妹erlin.

"I’ve been hitting it quite well for at least two or three months,"

Pampling said. "I just haven’t been driving it super. And I had my coach come yesterday and we just fixed up a little bit of that.

"So that was good. And the irons were great. We hit a lot of close shots."

Koepka had nine birdies without a bogey -- including back-to-back birdies to close his round at the eighth and ninth.

"I obviously made a lot of putts today,"大众said Koepka, the US Ryder Cupper who won his first US PGA Tour title in Phoenix last year. "(I) grinded hard

early on in the week making sure the putting was right, and it showed today."

Huh’s nine birdies included five in a row from the  一 三th- 一 七th.

Billy Horschel was alone in fourth on  六 四 when play was halted by darkness with a handful of players still on the course. Australian Matt Jones and American Luke List were a stroke back on  六 五. AFP