Geoff Ogilvy in 8th-place tie at Quail Hollow thanks to late birdies
There were ups and downs and not a lot of in between for Geoff Ogilvy on Friday at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Ogilvy, the 2006 U.S. Open champion, shot 3-under-par 69 to sit at 6-under for the tournament and in a tie for eighth. His scorecard consisted of eight birdies, five bogeys and just five pars at Quail Hollow Club.
“It would have been a real special day if I had gotten rid of the bogeys but I don’t know it’s probably that sort of course too,” Ogilvy said. “It’s pretty easy to get yourself in a bad place, but there are birdies out there when you hit good shots.
“Eight birdies is fun. You walk off with eight birdies and think ‘Wow, you let a few chances go.’ But at least half the holes I walked off with a smile on my face.”
This is Ogilvy’s 11th trip to Quail Hollow, and the best he’s finished is a tie for 10th in 2004 and 2006.
What’s helped Ogilvy more than anything are the par 5s at Quail Hollow. He has birdied the four par 5s both days, which he admitted “is pretty handy around here.”
Ogilvy got off to a slow start after beginning on No. 10. He went birdie-bogey-bogey to start his day, which felt more like late evening to him after teeing off at 7:30 a.m.
“Kind of really dark, I thought, early,” Ogilvy said, “I don’t know if that makes any difference. I thought the first few holes were weird because it was dark and gloomy.”
As low as 2-under with seven holes left, Ogilvy made five consecutive birdies from holes No. 3 through 7.
“It kind of turned just kind of a ho-hum round into a good round,” he said. David Scott
Kid’s broken tee helps Knost ace No. 17
A young fan helped out Colt Knost on the 17th tee.
“There was a little kid inside the ropes who had a broken tee,” said Knost. “I told him I’d trade him a full one for the broken one if I can use it on this hole. His dad said. ‘Only if you hit close.’ ”
Knost did better than that. He aced the hole with a 3-iron, the first hole-in-one in tournament history on the 17th.
It was just the second ace in tournament history, with Jay Williams’ hole-in-one on No. 6 in 2008 being the first.
Knost needed just four strokes for the final two holes.
“Standing on 17, (I) told Jonathan Byrd we both needed a miracle to somehow make the cut,” Knost said. “That was probably the definition of it.”
Knost birdied 18 to finish 1-under and make the cut with a round of 68 on Friday.
Four former champions missed the cut, which was at even par: Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, Derek Ernst and last year’s winner, J.B. Holmes. Other notables who have gone home: Charl Schwartzel, Jonathan Byrd, Charlotte’s Brendon de Jonge and Adam Scott.
▪ Scott Gutschewski, who won the tournament’s qualifier Monday at Rocky River Golf Club, made the cut after shooting 70 on Friday. He’s 5 under for the tournament and tied for 14th. The three other qualifiers – Matt Thompson of Fort Mill, S.C., Charlotte resident T.J. Howe and Colombian Andres Echavarria – all missed the cut.
By the numbers
8 Sponsor’s exemptions who have won on the PGA Tour since 1991 (Patrick Rodgers is two strokes off lead).
1 Second-round leader to go and win at Quail Hollow (Woods in 2007).
5 Of last six Quail Hollow winners have missed the cut the following year.
Quoting
“I love parring 18. It’s a great golf hole. But I hate playing it.” – Mickelson on No. 18, which has a creek running down the left side.
Saturday’s weather
Partly sunny, high of 83. Chance of rain: 15 percent.
This story was originally published May 15, 2015 at 8:40 PM with the headline "Geoff Ogilvy in 8th-place tie at Quail Hollow thanks to late birdies."