Luke Donald makes customary flying start to RBC Heritage
Saturday 15 April 2017 00:02, UK
Luke Donald continued to thrive at Harbour Town Golf Links as he opened the RBC Heritage with a classy six-under 65.
Donald has a remarkable record on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, finishing runner-up four times with two third-places since 2009, and he put himself on course for another big week after the first round.
Bud Cauley earned a two-shot advantage over the field as he surpassed the clubhouse lead shared by Donald, Graham DeLaet and Sam Saunders, while Ireland's Shane Lowry fired an excellent 66 and Ian Poulter boosted his hopes of retaining his PGA Tour card as he matched Lowry's five-under round.
Cauley birdied the first two holes and cruised to the turn in 32, and he suddenly jumped into the outright lead when he picked up four more shots over the final five holes to cap a faultless 63.
Donald was one of the early starters, and he took advantage of excellent scoring conditions as he began at the 10th and birdied two of his first three, although he did drop a stroke at the 11th.
But that proved to be his only blemish of the day as he rolled in further birdie putts at 17 and 18 before hitting the shot of the round at the long second, a stunning 209-yard iron from the pine straw which bounded onto the green and set up an eagle from inside four feet.
The former world No 1 added one further birdie at the par-five fifth and parred safely in to set the clubhouse target, which was later matched by Canadian DeLaet and Saunders, the grandson of the late Arnold Palmer, who emulated Cauley in making birdies at each of the last three holes.
"This place has been kind to me and it's nice to get off to a great start again," said Donald, who has tumbled to 96th in the world rankings. "It's always nice to come back to places you feel comfortable and you've had success.
"Obviously I've had a lot of success here in the last eight years, and I've done everything but win. So it would be nice to give myself another chance to try and finally get over that hurdle."
Lowry raced to four under after seven holes before a bogey at nine stalled his charge, and he dropped another at 14 before responding with birdies at 15, 16 and 18, where he holed a monster putt for a three from just inside 60 feet.
Poulter is still playing on a medical extension and needs a tie for 12th to retain his full PGA Tour privileges, and he recovered from a bogey at the opening hole with six birdies to join Lowry and Shell Houston Open champion Russell Henley on five under.
Andrew "Beef" Johnston once again attracted big galleries as he carded five birdies and two bogeys in a solid 68 along with Ryder Cup star Martin Kaymer and Matt Kuchar, who is without a PGA Tour victory since winning this title three years ago.
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Defending champion Branden Grace and US Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk were also nicely placed on three under, but Danny Willett (71), Graeme McDowell (72) and Matt Fitzpatrick (73) are likely to need something in the 60s on Friday to avoid an unscheduled weekend off.
