Frys.com Open round one: Wind could blow the field apart

Local knowledge looked the clear winner Thursday whichever course was being played. Being a local boy, leader Bob May lives and breathes these courses and so found TPC Summerlin pretty easy even if the greens were playing faster than he is used to. At the Canyons Jason Gore did the next best thing and hired local knowledge in the form of Mike Messner, a caddie who knows the courses like the back of his hand. “I’d just basically stand over to the side of the green, scratch my head and wait for him to tell me where to hit it.” Nice.

One thing is abundantly clear from the first round stats: you’re going to have no trouble at all from the rough. What rough? May ranks 129th for accuracy off the tee! He reckons his course nous could be especially helpful Friday when the wind is expected to be a much bigger factor, although the forecasts don’t put speeds at much more than 15mph. On courses where the greens are already lightning fast, this could still cause plenty of problems. Word on the fairway is that a strong wind could mean a difference of 10 shots or more in average scores.

The suggestion also is that the more exposed Canyons course might play the more difficult in the wind. Certainly to look at Thursday’s leaderboard you’d think those who played Summerlin had much the easier day. Only five out of the first 20 played Canyons. But overall the figures say the courses played virtually identical, morning and afternoon, at a smidgin under 70. Still, if it does get windy, one player who should have no problem is Charley Hoffman, just four shots off the pace. It was pretty blowy when he won the Bob Hope Classic at the start of the year.