Rod Pampling will take a two-shot lead into the second round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open after carding an impressive score of 60 on Thursday.
The Australian’s unblemished round included seven birdies and two eagles as he finished the day on 11-under-par, while he also narrowly missed out on shooting a sub-60 score, after failing to convert difficult birdie opportunities at the final two holes of the day.
The 47-year-old admitted after his round he was slightly disappointed to not join the exclusive list of golfers who have shot sub-60 scores during a PGA Tour event, but he confirmed that he was delighted with his overall performance at TPC at Summerlin.
“The putt on 17 just fell short in the jaws and on 18 I gave myself a bad read, Pampling said. “I thought it was straight, but it just had that little left-to-right. I would have loved to have made one for a 59, but it was just a good solid day all around.”
The world number 451 has not secured a victory on the PGA Tour since his triumph at the Bay Hill Invitational in March 2006, but he believes his game is in good shape and he can sustain a genuine challenge for glory this weekend.
“I’ve been hitting it quite well for at least two or three months,” Pampling added. “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.” Pampling is available at 13.00 to secure overall glory this weekend, but he faces a tough task to hold onto his lead, as American duo John Huh and Brooks Koepka are his nearest challengers on nine-under, while Billy Horschel is just a further two shots off the pace.
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