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Vernon opens Korn Ferry Tour event with 2-under round
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Carr Vernon will have some work to do in order to stick around for the weekend at the Korn Ferry Tour event.
Vernon opened the Price Cutter Championships presented by Dr Pepper with a 2-under-par 70 Thursday at Highland Springs Country Club and is tied for 71st.
“I’m looking forward to a good round tomorrow,” Vernon said.
Vernon will start on the 10th tee at 9:07 a.m. Friday after playing in the final group to tee off in the first round.
The temperature was 101 degrees, one shy of the record set in 1974, when Vernon played the front 9.
“I don’t think it was crazy humid today so I wasn’t sweating a whole bunch, but it was really hot,” said Vernon, who saw a lot of familiar faces on the course and wanted to thank them for following his round.
The forecast calls for another hot day Friday and even hotter temperatures for the weekend.
To play the weekend, Vernon must be among the top 65 players and ties following Friday’s second round.
Three players are tied for the lead at 9-under as David Kocher, Taylor Montgomery and Peter Kuest each shot rounds of 63. Kuest earned a spot in the field with a 6-under 65 in Monday’s qualifier along with Griffen Locke, who was runner-up at the 2016 Tom Hoover Ozark Invitational.
Five players are tied for fourth at 7-under while 108 of the 156 players shot under par.
Three time PGA Tour winner Boo Weekley was also at 2-under tied with Vernon.
Vernon’s round featured two birdies, an eagle and 13 pars with two bogeys.
He started with four straight pars, missing a birdie putt on the par-3 fourth before sinking one on the par-4 fifth.
On the par-4 sixth, Vernon’s approach shot hit a slope on the green and rolled off and he was unable to get up and down leading to a bogey.
“It did seem like today when I made a birdie or whatever and then I’d make a bad score pretty soon after,” Vernon said. “It was hard to keep momentum.”
Vernon, who averaged 1.78 putts per hole, had a four-hole run of two putts and was even after 10.
After a long drive on the par-5 11th — he averaged 327 yards off the tee — Vernon’s 8-iron set up an eagle putt from 11 feet that dropped.
Vernon said he missed a birdie putt on the par-3 13th before a bogey on the par-4 14th put him 1-under. His birdie putt on 17 did fall to reach 2-under before avoiding trouble on the final hole.
Hitting a blind tee shot downhill on the par-5 hole, Vernon’s ball found the water on the right side. He said he thought his approach might not make it over the water but it did and he was able to get up and down to save par.
Last year, Vernon opened with a 68 playing in the morning and shot 71 with an afternoon start in the second round. He missed the cut by one shot at 5-under, tying for 77th.