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 Early starter Bowditch of Australia, putting superbly, birdied five
of his first nine holes on the way to a sizzling eight-under-par 62
at the TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas in Irving, Texas.
That left Bowditch two ahead of American Jimmy Walker, a fellow
Texas resident who mixed seven birdies with a lone bogey to surge up
the leaderboard.
Two more Americans, James Hahn and Ryan Palmer, were a further
stroke back after opening with 65s while world number two and local
favorite Spieth had to settle for a 69 after making just two birdies
and one bogey in the afternoon wave.
Bowditch, whose sole PGA Tour victory came at last year's Texas
Open, totaled only 25 putts as he capitalized on a morning tee-off
and a fast start.
"It was really nice," the Australian told PGA Tour Radio after
piling up eight birdies in a bogey-free display on a course
saturated by heavy rain over the past month.
"I got off to a pretty good start, made a couple of putts early and
had some momentum."
Bowditch, a top junior player whose professional career was
temporarily stalled as he battled depression, set the tone for his
day as he recorded birdies at the first, fourth, sixth, seventh and
ninth to reach the turn in five-under 30.
"I kept it in the fairway and that's a big thing out here, being so
wet," he said. "I stayed aggressive, kept hitting drivers and
getting them on the golf course.
"The greens are great. They are soft but you can still make some
putts out there."
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Spieth made a promising start by sinking a nine-footer for birdie at
the par-four first but picked up just one more shot, at the 10th,
before bogeying the par-four 14th after his tee shot ended up in the
right rough.
"It was tough to putt on today," said Dallas resident Spieth, a
double winner on the 2014-15 PGA Tour. "I feel good with the putter
in my hands, just maybe not quite matching line and speed.
"The greens were soft and there was so much (afternoon) traffic that
putts weren't breaking as much. I think they will be a little
quicker tomorrow and more pure.
"Just get out there and try and make a couple of birdies at the
beginning, see if we can't get some more (putts) to go in. I only
made one mistake today, other than that it was a flawless round."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue/Greg Stutchbury)
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