Davis Love III was excited stepping to the tee for his first shot as a Champions Tour member on Friday. Maybe a little too excited.
"I jumped on it a little bit and hooked it," Love said.
Love bogeyed the par-5 opening hole at Kapolei Golf Course, but rebounded nicely with a birdie on No. 2 and another on No. 7. He carded two more birdies on the back nine and finished the first round of the Pacific Links Championship at 3-under 69.
Love, who turned 50 in April, hadn’t played since shooting a 69 in the second round of the Wyndham Championship on Aug. 15 in Greensboro, N.C.
"I’ve played some practice rounds and some pro-ams and hit balls, but there’s no substitute for actually playing in a tournament," Love said. "I was just rusty today and hopefully get better as the week goes on."
Love needed 31 putts in his round and a birdie putt on No. 18 burned the edge. He tapped in for par to close his afternoon.
"I hit some good putts and thought I made the one on 18," Love said.
"Paspalum (grass) is different than bermuda. It’s hard to figure out the grain — they have a lot of little subtle breaks in them. They’re really good, you hit a good putt it’ll go in. I was just a little off on the speed, didn’t seem like I hit them quite hard enough. I just have to get a little more aggressive or confident with it."
Solid start for Irwin
Hale Irwin has played –and won — in Hawaii enough to adjust to a shift in the wind at Kapolei.
With the wind down compared to the howling trades last year, Irwin shot a 4-under 68 on Friday, closing with a bogey on No. 18, his second of the day against six birdies.
"I got it going and on the front nine hit a lot of really good irons," Irwin said. "It’s a whole lot different if you bogey the last for 68 or birdie the last for 68. I didn’t play the last three holes well at all. I just didn’t close very well."
Irwin has closed awfully well in Hawaii over the years. He has picked up eight of his 45 Champions Tour wins in Hawaii to go along with his 1981 Hawaiian Open victory. His last came at the MasterCard Championship at Hualalai in 2007.
He tied for 40th in last year’s Pacific Links Championship at 1-over 217, and the relatively calm wind was one of the differences he noticed in the course on Friday.
"The condition of the course is so good right now — there’s more grass and the ball’s not running quite as far," Irwin said. "The difference is I’m hitting so many longer shots into these greens and with the Kona (wind) it makes that much more different. … When you get the trades it’s a complete reversal of how you’re trying to play the hole."
Irwin is a member of the Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame for his golf and football exploits, and figures he’ll be kept up to date on the Buffaloes’ game against Hawaii on Saturday morning.
"I suppose during the course of the day somebody will tell me what’s going on," said Irwin, an All-Big Eight cornerback in 1965 and ’66.
Sindelar walks the walk
Joey Sindelar has been helping his son, Jamie, in his fledgling professional career and used some of those tips in crafting a 7-under 65.
Jamie, who played college golf at Ohio State and on PGA Tour Canada, caddied for his father on Friday and dad heeded his own lessons while staying focused during a run of seven birdies in 10 holes.
"I’m kind of reliving the messages I’ve been trying to teach Jamie," Joey Sindelar said. "All the lessons I’ve been preaching to him I have to use them."
After, Sindelar expected to get a call from his younger son, Ryan, "who will be clearly saying if I was on the bag it would have been two or three better."
