Thongchai Jaidee leads after first round at Hoag Classic in Newport Beach
Thongchai Jaidee had a hot start on Friday at the Hoag Classic golf tournament at Newport Beach Country Club.
“Sizzling” might be a better way to describe a front nine that included five birdies and an eagle at hole No. 3 for the Thai pro.
“You’re seven-under after nine?” a fan asked Jaidee’s caddie incredulously as the caddie zoomed down the path in a golf cart at No. 10. “Let’s go! Oh, my God!”
Jaidee cooled off somewhat but still did enough to grab the first-round lead at the PGA Tour Champions event.
He carded a nine-under par 62, matching his best round on the Champions tour and taking the outright lead by a stroke.
“If you play a low score, the golf course is fantastic,” Jaidee said. “Today was not very difficult, and the wind is not very strong. I mean, this is my fourth year here, I know a little bit about the course.”
English golfer Paul Broadhurst and Irish standout Padraig Harrington are both a shot behind, at -8. Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez is in fourth place, at -6.
The first round was played under partly cloudy skies, though some rain is in the forecast for both Saturday and Sunday. Tee times Saturday have been moved up about an hour.
A bogey on par-four hole No. 16 was the only hiccup for Jaidee, who hit all 18 greens in regulation. He’s had a long-term back injury and recently took a three-week break from golf but said he’s feeling good heading into the weekend.
Broadhurst is off to a quick start this season on the PGA Tour Champions, with two top-10 finishes in his first four events. His round included birdies on four straight par-four holes, from Nos. 9 through 12.
“I guess that was probably the easiest 63 I’ve had,” Broadhurst said. “When I got the wedge in my hand, I hit it really close.”
He said his round was fairly stress-free until he bogeyed the par-three 17th hole.
“I didn’t play a great bunker shot and just lipped out from 5 feet,” Broadhurst said. “That happens toward the end of the day on poa annua greens, they get a little bit crusty. I putted well all day and I just had one that just wobbled a little bit offline.”
Harrington surged late, earning three straight birdies on Nos. 15, 16 and 17 before a par on 18. After the round, a reporter told him that Irish weather was coming in the next couple of days.
“If I wanted Irish weather, I would have stayed in Ireland,” he quipped. “I’m getting it anyway, and I’m in California.”
But Harrington, 52, who has split time between the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions this season, had to be pleased to be in contention.
“[The two tours are] very different,” he said. “Out here, there’s a certain level of comfort that I know if I play my game I’m going to be in and around the leaderboard. I go back and play with the young guys, and I feel under pressure that I have to have my very best game.”
Among other local favorites, Long Beach native Paul Goydos is tied for 16th after an opening round score of -3. Newport Beach resident Fred Couples, one of seven World Golf Hall of Fame members in the event, is tied for 28th after carding a -2.
Defending champion Ernie Els scored a -1, which tied him for 42nd place. But don’t count him out, as he also started last year with the same score before rallying for victory.
Couples is scheduled to tee off first from No. 1 at 9:25 a.m. Saturday, in a group that includes Jim Furyk and Michael Wright. Jaidee, Broadhurst and Harrington are in the final group at 11:25 a.m.
Saturday is Military Appreciation Day at the tournament. The Celebrity Challenge also will take place around 2 p.m., beginning at No. 10. The pairing includes former Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Abbott and football stars Reggie Bush, Marshall Faulk and Matt Barkley.
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