NASSAU, Bahamas — The calendar could not flip for a couple of extra weeks however Cameron Younger already is treating the Hero World Problem as whether it is 2025.
“To me, this kind of feels like the start of a new season in a way,” he stated. “I’m playing this week, next week, have a couple of weeks off and then we start (in Maui).”
It had been 102 days between photographs in aggressive rounds for Cameron Younger, who final performed within the BMW Championship in August after which flew to Mexico in November for the World Extensive Know-how Championship in Los Cabos, Mexico, however withdrew earlier than the event started. Was he shocked with how sharp his recreation was after the lengthy layoff?
“I didn’t play great yesterday,” he stated. “But you always feel like you can shoot a number like that. I really felt very well in control, which isn’t necessarily surprising but it’s a nice thing to come out and just feel like yourself.”
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Particularly with the driving force. Younger used the large stick as a weapon to arrange a bogey-free eight-under 64 at Albany Membership on Thursday and open up a two-stroke lead over Justin Thomas after the primary spherical of the 20-man unofficial occasion hosted by Tiger Woods.
“[The drive on] No. 18 was really nice, especially after waiting a little bit just to kind of get that one down there in place is good. Hit a really good one off 11, I was really proud of that one today,” he stated. “I’m sure I missed a fairway or two, but for the most part I was really well in position. Then I made a couple putts early, which was nice. Just kind of got off to a nice start with the putter. There’s a bunch of par 5s and a couple drivable holes, so I feel that if you’re on top of it, especially off the tee, you can make a bunch of birdies.”
And that’s precisely what he did, reeling off birdies on three of the primary 4 holes and 5 of the primary eight. It was a comparatively stress-free day for the 27-yer-old native of Scarborough, New York.
“The one on 12 is really as close as I came to having (a bogey) – 12 and then 13, so those two holes in a row,” stated Younger, who continues to be in search of his first Tour title. “No. 13 I had a really tricky chip, kind of had to play it over the sprinkler heads from right of the green. Yeah, a three-footer. I pitched it close on the next hole. It wasn’t where I would have put it with my second shot, but happy to get it up and down and kind of make the rest of my round easy.”
Cameron Younger performs a shot on the 18th gap through the first spherical of the Hero World Problem 2024 at Albany Golf Course in Nassau, Bahamas. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Pictures)
Thomas, taking part in for the primary time for the reason that delivery of his first little one, overcame a sluggish begin to shoot 6-under 66. He was 1-over by way of 5 holes and close to the underside of the leaderboard when he made the flip. However he obtained a pep speak from his caddie Matt Minister on the stroll from the tenth tee that kicked him into gear.
“He said, ‘You look like you’re trying so hard on your putter trying to just make putts, almost like play putting stroke as opposed to just putting,’ ” Thomas recounted. “When I get off, that’s a tendency that I have and I feel like I just tried to trust my instincts and just go and react. I did that the last nine holes and I putted really, really nicely.”
He poured in six birdies and shot 30 coming residence.
One other participant who was joyful together with his placing was world No. 1 and defending Hero champion Scottie Scheffler, who experimented with a claw grip on Thursday.
“I’m always looking for ways to improve and I felt like this was something that we had looked at last year when (putting coach) Phil (Kenyon) and I first started working together, but it was really our first time working together and it’s something that’s different than what I’ve done in the past,” Scheffler defined. “This year I had thought about it from time to time and it was something that we had just said let’s table that for the end of the season, take a look at it.”
It seems to be a piece in progress as Scheffler did handle to make six birdies, together with 4 of the final 5, and shoot 67, however he additionally misplaced 1.156 strokes to the sector and ranked 18th out of 20 gamers in Strokes Gained: placing.
“I felt like I rolled it really nice,” Scheffler stated. “I felt like I hit a lot of edges out there, ball was kind of dancing around the cup.”
