FBR Open
29 Jan 2004 - 01 Feb 2004Scottsdale, Arizona
The new sponsor of this event, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc., and the host Thunderbirds have gone the extra mile this year with their "Birdies for Charity" program. The company will donate $100 for every birdie, $1,000 for every eagle and $10,000 for every double eagle or hole-in-one. With 442 birdies and three eagles the total amount from the partial first round is $47,200.
First-round clubhouse leader Scott Verplank (8-under 63) also shared the first-round lead at this tournament in 2001 with Brad Elder and Tom Lehman at 7-under 64. That year he finished in fourth place. Scott Verplank has held/shared the first-round lead in his career seven previous times, winning just the first two at the 1985 Western Open and the 1988 Buick Open. The last time he held/shared the 18-hole lead was at the 2001 Memorial Tournament (with Chris Smith) where he finished T24. The last time he held a lead on TOUR was 2003 when he shared the 54-hole lead at the Funai Classic at WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT with Vijay Singh, John Rollins and Stewart Cink, then finished T2.
The key to Scott Verplank's round on Thursday was putting. He needed just 24 putts and was tied for second in putts per round when the horn blew to suspend play on Thursday. Last week at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Verplank averaged 28.60 putts per round and finished the week T77 in that category.
Jeff Sluman fired a 5-under 66 to sit in a seven-way tie for fifth when play was called for the day. That is Sluman's best round in Scottsdale, AZ since a 66 during the final-round of the 1991 tournament. Sluman has not played the event the last six years after finishing MC (1997), T56 (1996), MC (1995, 1994) and T57 (1993). His best finish here is a T16 in 1992.
Defending Champion Vijay Singh carries a streak of 10 consecutive top-10 finishes into this week's tournament. Singh finished the 2003 season with eight straight and then opened 2004 with a second at the Mercedes Championships and a T9 at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Singh posted an even-par 71 during Thursday's morning round. A top-10 this week would give Singh 11 straight, the most since Greg Norman finished the 1993 season with six straight and then began 1994 with five more.
The Tournament Players Club of Scottsdale implemented new course design changes between the 2003 tournament and the 2004 one. Four holes added new tee boxes to lengthen the course from 7,070 yards to 7,216 yards. The changes: The par 4 sixth hole moved from 409 to 440 yards, the par-4 ninth hole from 448 to 468 yards, the par 4 14th from 444 to 476 yards and the par-5 15th from 501 to 558. The changes on the par-5 15th hole probably had the biggest effect on a player's decision to go for the island green in two. On Thursday, 59 of the 132 players (44.7%) went for it in two resulting in one eagle, 26 birdies, 18 pars and 14 bogeys or others. Although there are still a couple of players to finish that hole, here is a comparison of the 15th hole during round one in 2003 (2004): 7(1) eagles, 79 (42) birdies, 36 (64) pars, 9 (22) bogeys or others. Brenden Pappas knocked his second shot closest on the Par-5 15th hole. Pappas put it to 7' 7" and two-putted for the birdie. Stephen Ames made the only eagle, rolling in a putt from 15' 1".
Not one of the 31 rookies on TOUR in 2004 made it into the 132-player field this week at the Tournament Players Club of Scottsdale. There is one amateur though, Steve Tate, who made it through the Open Qualifier on Monday and sat at 1-over through 15 holes when play was suspended. Speaking of players in the field, John Riegger was the eighth alternate on the field list after the commitment deadline on Friday, January 22nd. A T30 at last week's Bob Hope Chrysler Classic ($27,337.50) along with a seventh-place finish at the Sony Open in Hawaii ($160,800) helped Riegger to improve to second alternate and earn a spot in the field when Andrew Magee withdrew. The reason behind the jump: Riegger had both Major Medical status (torn rib cage muscle/shoulder injury in 2003) for six tournaments at the beginning of the 2004 season and Q-School status, thanks to finishing T4 at the 2003 Qualifying Tournament. In order to improve his Q-school status, Riegger needed to earn $169,393 in the six events to equal the $487,495 that the No. 125 Esteban Toledo made in 2003. With $188,137.50 in earnings, Riegger easily passed Toledo to move up to the Major Medical Extension category for the remainder of the year.
How much difference a year makes? In 2003, Harrison Frazar led the first-round of the Phoenix Open after a 9-under 62. In 2004, Frazar's score was 15 strokes different after an opening 6-over 77 (T128). Kenny Perry withdrew from the tournament after the first round due to a stiff neck.
