Optimism after Round 1

Not a lot looks very good from the stat sheet on my opening round at the Fry's.com Open. I hit just four of fourteen fairways and just eight of the eighteen greens. A made four bogies and just two birdies in ideal scoring conditions. On a day when nearly thirty players shot 68 or better, I posted an opening-round 74. Yuck. That stuff is the bad news. There is good news, however. I was proud of where I was mentally in the first round. I committed to my routine nicely and was in the moment over each shot. Some positive signs from game were that I actually hit the ball very solidly and putted well. When I find my groove and start hitting the ball straight again, I'm going to be in great shape! I feel confident that the work I am doing is good, and I am going to continue to trust it. 

With that said, things are definitely a little bit off right now. I'm driving the ball crookedly and the majority of my longer shots are just starting and staying off-line. My swing feels good, and my contact with the ball is pure, so I'm confident that I can get things grooving again. I had a nice practice session after my round on Thursday, and I will head into my Friday afternoon tee time for round two expecting to play well. I actually holed some nice putts to save pars on Thursday, so I am going to give myself those putts for birdies instead of pars the rest of the week! I really am feeling good; I just need to get things clicking. 

Alicia had a great line for me when we were talking after my round. She said, "You can do this. Go get yourself a top-five finish this week." It'll definitely take some big improvement to get that done, but I really feel like I am close to playing well. I'm going to get out there Friday and start making progress towards Alicia's command. 

I'm definitely not off to the start that I wanted here in Napa, but I'm not as far off as the scores indicate. My mind is in a great position, I'm starting to feel some confidence with the putter, and I'm ready to clean up the looseness in my long game. Thank you for following me and keep it here for another report after round two!