GOLF: Richie Coughlan didn't know for sure until Tuesday if he would be able to use his minor medical exemption to get into the field for the Honda Classic at the TPC at Heron Bay in Florida and, when he did eventually get in, his first round in the tournament had to wait until yesterday after heavy rain forced play to be postponed before he even got to hit one stroke.
When he did finally get going, however, the Offaly player performed extremely well to fire an opening-round three-under-par 69 which, although six shots adrift of first-round pace-setter John Riegger, put him in an ideal position to achieve his initial aim of making the cut which will bring with it a place on this year's Buy.com Tour.
Coughlan's first round brought him six birdies and three bogeys. Having covered the front nine in level par 36, he caught fire in the damp conditions on the way home with a birdie at the 12th and then a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th to the 17th.
Unfortunately for the Birr man, he bogeyed the last - but was still very content in signing for a 69, especially since this is his first outing in a month after being forced to pull out of the Tucson Open three weeks ago when medical scans discovered a cracked rib.
Paul McGinley, meanwhile, didn't do so well. He had played three holes in his first round on Thursday only to be called in when rain left the course unplayable. Yesterday, resuming his first round on the fourth hole, he started with two bogeys in his opening three holes and signed for a 73 which left him with an uphill task in his bid to make the cut.
Riegger was the surprise first round leader beating the course record by one shot. "I knew I was playing well. I was holing some putts, but I wasn't thinking any particular number," Riegger said. "Once I got it going, I was just trying to birdie every hole."
He finished the round two ahead of Brad Faxon, JJ Henry and Bob Heintz.
It was anticipated that up to half the field would manage to complete their second rounds, but the remainder were not expected to do so until today when the cut will be determined.
LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES: 63 - J Riegger; 65 - JJ Henry, B Faxon, B Heintz; 66 - J Edwards, S Kendall, D Ellis; 67 - C DiMarco, K Perry, R Damron, P-U Johansson (Swe), F Allem (SA), D Hart, M Allen, R Pampling (Aus); 68 - P Tataurangi (NZ), N Lancaster, J Sindelar, F Couples, B Langer (Ger), M Kuchar, M Sposa, JL Lewis, PBates, B Andrade, M Weir (Can), O Browne, B Pappas, K Staton, L Donald (Britain), B Wetterich, P Casey.
Selected scores: 69 - G Chalmers (Aus), G Ogilivy (Aus), R Coughlan (Ire); 70 - J Parnevik (Swe), C Perks (NZ), C Franco (Para), P Lonard (Aus), A Cabrera (Arg); 71 - F Nobilo (NZ), R Goosen (SA), 73 - P McGinley (Ire).
