With day one of the action all wrapped up at the WGC-HSBC Champions, what are the key storylines so far?
Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
In what marks the first marquee event of the new PGA Tour season and one of the final big tournaments on the European Tour calendar, there’s plenty to play for at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai this week.
As such, with big prize money up for grabs and a top quality field in attendance, anticipation was high and with a slew of low scores on Thursday, the world’s top pros certainly haven’t disappointed so far.
Making his debut in a WGC event, Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg will have plenty of reasons to be pleased with his opening day’s work, as he holds sole possession of the lead at eight-under.
Poised just behind the Swede, already on the prowl, are as you’d expect at an event of this magnitude, a number of proven winners from around the globe.
With the likes of Rickie Fowler, Russell Knox, the in-form Paul Casey and Henrik Stenson starting strong, we should be in for a fun weekend.
What were the key takeaways from the first day’s play at Sheshan though? Let’s take a closer look.
Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Knox Eager To Defend
Although Rikard Karlberg is the man currently sitting astride the top of the leaderboard at eight-under, there’s one man’s name who immediately catches the eye after the opening round’s play at the famous Sheshan. I am, of course, talking about Russell Knox.
The defending champion this week, Knox set the tone for what would go on to be a whirlwind, career-changing year last season with a win in Shanghai, and fueled by positive memories, an opening 66 has him in ideal position to replicate that success again.
With Justin Thomas having defended at the CIMB Classic last week, Knox has the motivation needed to push himself further up the world rankings with a strong finish or even a win this week, while also becoming the early pace-setter in the 2017 FedEx cup race.
Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
In-Form Europeans Start Well
For those who only follow the PGA Tour, they could be forgiven for not realizing just how ominous a solid start could be from one of the men currently placed in the top-10 at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
Alex Noren has won three times since July, including two weeks ago at the British Masters, and having propelled himself up to a career high 18th in the world golf rankings, is almost certainly the in-form player on the planet right now.
Another European who has been playing phenomenal golf but has yet to have been rewarded with a win is English journeyman Richard Bland. Bland’s only career win came on the European Challenge Tour, but on the main tour this year he has finished no worse than 27th in his last nine starts, in a spell that has included four top-10s.
Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Big Names Struggling
On the other end of the scale, it was a slow start for some of the highest profile names in the field in China. Over par, you can find three of the world’s top-10, with Masters Champion Danny Willett and 2013 winner of this event Dustin Johnson both on two-over, and US Ryder Cup star Patrick Reed way back on plus-six.
A little bit closer to contention, particularly in a no cut event, but having started slower than he’d have hoped is Rory McIlroy. Experimenting with some new equipment, the FedEx Cup champ had a quiet round by his standards with just two birdies counteracted by a disappointing bogey on the par-5 18th for a one-under total.
Also underwhelming on that one-under mark is the 2014 winner Bubba Watson, last week’s champion Justin Thomas and European up-and-comers Thomas Pieters and Rafa Cabrera Bello. Luckily for all of them, there’s a lot of golf still to be played.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
WGC-HSBC Champions – Day 1 Leaderboard
1 – Rikard Karlberg – 64 (-8)
2 – Rickie Fowler – 65 (-7)
T3 – Daniel Berger – 66 (-6)
T3 – Russell Knox – 66 (-6)
T3 – Hideki Matsuyama – 66 (-6)
T6 – Bill Haas – 67 (-5)
T6 – Paul Casey – 67 (-5)
T6 – Francesco Molinari – 67 (-5)
T9 – Alex Noren – 68 (-4)
T9 – Sergio Garcia – 68 (-4)
T9 – Richard Bland – 68 (-4)
T9 – Dean Burmester – 68 (-4)
T9 – Xinjun Zhang – 68 (-4)
Check back with us tomorrow as we’ll have all the key takeaways heading into the weekend, at the halfway mark of the WGC-HSBC Champions.
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