It’s the Happiest 73 Sanday Ever Shot

He didn’t play a practice round, he never got to the practice green, he didn’t even qualify for the Nissan Open until Tuesday afternoon, but Jeff Sanday wasn’t going to start complaining.

Sure, Sanday bogeyed the last hole when he missed the green at the ninth and wound up in a bunker, but when you’ve spent the last few years grinding it out on the mini-tour circuit or trying to qualify to play what is now the Nationwide Tour, an opening 73 at Riviera looks swell.

“I was a little nervous and I’m sure it affected a few shots, but it’s a good feeling because you know you’re out here competing,” said Sanday, 31, of South Pasadena. “Once you get used to it, it’s no big deal. It was fun.”

Sanday shot a 67 at Los Serranos to qualify for the 144-player field, the same as his playing partner Brenden Pappas. The qualifying was held Tuesday instead of Monday because of Presidents Day and that meant there wouldn’t be a chance to play a practice round.

He could have worked on the putting green on Wednesday, but it was being used during the pro-am.

“It was a circus,” Sanday said.

The 1995 California Amateur champion hasn’t played Riviera since 1999 and was surprised by the fast and hard greens, so he made a few mistakes, hitting his putts too hard.

“I was absolutely nuking them,” he said. “I was ice skating all day. I knew it was going to be a tough day.”

Sanday is accustomed to difficult days. Last year, he played in 12 Buy.com Tour events, qualifying for three of them and making two cuts. He had to withdraw from the first stage of PGA Tour qualifying school because he injured a tendon in his left hand.

He’s not griping about anything, though. Not on opening day, not at Riviera, not when he’s playing golf.

“I’m just happy to be here,” he said.

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It helps to be lucky: Kenichi Kuboya of Japan landed his second shot on the par-four ninth about 25 feet above the hole on the green that slopes sharply from the back to the front. After about 10 seconds, a gust of wind started the ball rolling back down the green. It stopped less than a foot from the hole and Kuboya had a tap-in birdie to end his round of 76.

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It hurts to be unlucky: Defending champion Len Mattiace was between clubs on the ninth, his closing hole. He chose a three-iron over a four-wood, then mis-hit it. The ball landed short of the green by 30 yards in the rough. Mattiace wound up with a double bogey that took some of the shine off his two-under 69.

“It was just tough all day because of the wind, so it’s OK,” he said. “I’m not disappointed.”

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He played his first tournament of the year last week at Torrey Pines and missed the cut, but Bernhard Langer got off to a decent start at Riviera with a 72 in what he called “tricky” conditions.

Langer was off for two months and admitted to being rusty. He said he’d kept busy during his time off by skiing with his wife and family. Langer also put the finishing touches on his 20th golf course design -- and this one is something special, he said.

It’s on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, and the course commands almost all the island. The course is associated with Le Touessrok, voted the top resort-spa in the world by readers of Conde-Nast.

“You can see the ocean from all 18 holes,” Langer said.

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All this group needed to be complete was Davis Love III. Playing together were Charles Howell III, Notah Begay III, plus David Toms. Howell claimed the low score in the Roman numeral division with a two-under 69.

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Mark Calcavecchia, who tied for seventh last week at Torrey Pines, despite a sore right knee, will be out for at least three weeks after having arthroscopic surgery to remove cartilage.

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Jay Haas made his 729th career PGA Tour start, passing Arnold Palmer, who made 728 starts in his 50-year career.