Golf roundup: Kang shoots 60 for tie at the top

Kang’s amateur partner is comedian Ray Romano, and Kang said he didn’t know of Romano while in Korea but definitely knows him now.

It added to a memorable day at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (which is being played on four courses), where Kang and Hiroshi Iwata are tied for the lead.

“I played the hardest holes on this golf course in four under par and then I played all the easy ones over par”, Spieth, 22, told Golf Channel.

Kang had nine birdies and an eagle in his 11-under effort on the Monterey Peninsula course, one of three in use over the first three rounds of the PGA Tour event.

Kang said he appreciated Cowan’s experience and heeded the old-timer’s opinion that they had “survived” Thursday’s round of 72 at Spyglass and were poised to go low. The biggest cheers are unlikely to come after a booming 350 yard drive or a sumptuous flop-shot from a green-side bunker but rather a witty piece of banter or a hysterical act of self-depreciating humour from a Hollywood personality.

Rose finished with a 50-foot birdie putt that banged into the back of the cup for a 6-under 66 and made him feel like he was among the leaders, even though he was two shots behind to par, three shots to score.

Iwata’s round also included an eagle, at the par-five sixth, along with six birdies and two bogeys.

Four-times champion Phil Mickelson was a further stroke back in a three-way tie for third, having also raised hopes of a magical 59 after making an electric start before he lost momentum on his back nine to card a 65 at Monterey Peninsula.

Six players in the world’s top 10, headlined by 22-year-old No. 1 Jordan Spieth, make up a glittering field that is definitely the most impressive in recent memory – topping even 2012, when Woods played in the AT&T for the first time in 10 years and was matched with Mickelson in a final-round head-to-head showdown that Phil won handily with scorching 64 finish. And Romano? He now knows Kang can play some golf. “I think maybe the greens were pretty quick today and maybe a little bobbly”. The 28-year-old South Korean doesn’t know many Americans and is fairly oblivious to USA culture. He chipped to 15 feet and saved par. “So it was just like, ‘OK, it just felt like this is today, it’s just going to go in”.

Day teed off on No. 10 at Spyglass and had three bogeys and two birdies in his first nine holes.

As for former Washington Huskies, Nick Taylor (68 at Monterey) was tied for 27th place at 4 under, Alex Prugh (73 at Spyglass Hill) was tied for 59th at 1 under and Richard H. Lee (73 at Monterey) was tied for 104th at 2 over.

“I’m hitting it great now”, said Spieth, who tied for seventh a year ago.

American Reavie rebounded superbly from missed cuts in his last two PGA Tour starts to fire an eight-under-par 63 at Monterey and grab a one-shot lead in the opening round. “And then I played all the easy ones over par…”