Potter Tied for 13th at Ellie Mae Classic

Friday, August 4, 2017

Golfer Magazine

A double bogey on his 14th hole of the day prevented Ted Potter from winding up day one of the Ellie Mae Classic one stroke behind leader Nicholas Thompson. Without the two-stroke miscue Ted would have posted a 6-under-par 64 and put him in a six-way deadlock for second. As it was, his 4-under 66 dropped him into a tie for 13th, still well within hailing distance of the leader.

Ted began on the back nine and birdied 15, 17 and 18 for 3-under 32 at the TPC at Stonebrae in Hayward, California. On the front, he got it to 4 under with a birdie on No. 3 before taking the double on the par-4 fifth. Birdies on 7 and 8 moved him back to 4 under. He tees off at 7:31 Pacific time this morning in the company of Andrew Yun and Max Marsico.

Two-time Ocala Open winner Dan McCarthy shot even-par 70, Central Floridian Rob Oppenheim 5-under 65 and Seminole Jack Maguire 1-under 69. Basketball star Steph Curry, who received weeks of pre-tournament publicity after getting a sponsor's invitation, exceeded all expectations with a 4-over 74. The sweet swinger's estimates had ranged from 75 to 80.

FAVORITES LURKING AT FIRESTONE - Thomas Pieters took a one-stroke lead after the first round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone in Akron. Pieters shot 5-under 65, one better than Russell Knox. Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm are in a group two back at 3 under 67.

Seminoles Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger both shot 1-over 71 and are tied for 33rd, along with Phil Mickelson. Gator Billy Horschel soared to a 6-over 76.

HUH? - John Huh scored 15 points under the Stableford Modified Scoring system format to take the lead in the Barracuda Championship in Reno. There are 133 players in the field, all those who didn't make the grade to get to Firestone. There's a deadlock for second between Stuart Appleby and Miguel Angel Carballo, one point behind.

Gator Brian Gay is tied for 10th with 11 points, and Matt Every is tied for 64th with five points, which is the projected cut number. Brett Stegmaier has three points and can still make the weekend with a few birdies today.