Solid Round One; Feeling Good in NE

In today's first round at the Nebraska Open, I delivered a solid performance. A short morning practice session before lunch had me feeling good, and I was very relaxed this afternoon for my 1:50 tee time. I began the day with three perfect golf shots for a birdie on the par-4 opening hole, and, after scrambling for pars on the next two holes, I settled into a very solid groove. In fact, I had make-able birdie putts on every hole from number 4 through 16. I missed the green right on long par-3 17th and hit a good pitch shot and a solid putt, but couldn't quite get my five-footer to fall. The bogey was my only one of the day, and it left me with a four-under-par round of 67.

Given the fast and firm condition of the greens, my solid--at times even conservative--play today was just what the doctor ordered. I kept the ball in good positions almost all day, and took advantage of the par-fives with birdies on all three of them. I had a lot of birdie putts today, and I did putt well, but had my putter gotten hot, I could have shot a very good round. As it was, my score was good enough to have me in a tie for fourth after round 1 and only one shot behind the leaders.

I feel good about all areas of my game. Nothing was particularly flashy today, but everything was pretty solid. I'm very confident that I can keep getting better the next couple of days, too. I tee off tomorrow at 9:20 in round two and will try to build on my success from round 1. Come back for more good news after the road, and check out the results at www.nebraskapga.com.