2015 Arnold Palmer Invitational: Morgan Hoffmann Leads After Round 1
By Danny Norris
2015 Arnold Palmer Invitational: Morgan Hoffmann leads by one after shooting a bogey-free, 6-under 66
After missing the cut last week at the Valspar Championship, Morgan Hoffmann has bounced right back a week later as he leads the 2015 Arnold Palmer Invitational after round one.
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In fact, bouncing back after missing the cut has become a pattern for Hoffmann thus far this season. Hoffmann has alternated missed cuts and quality finishes for the past five tournaments he has played in.
At the Farmers Insurance Open, Hoffmann missed the cut. Two weeks later, at the Northern Trust Open, Hoffmann finished T-22. The very next week Hoffmann missed the cut at the Honda Classic.
Hoffmann played at the WGC-Cadillac Championship and as we all know that doesn’t have a cut, but nevertheless he still had a great finish in a tie for 17th. And then as we already touched upon he missed the cut at Valspar.
Now, Hoffmann is in line to make the cut here at API and have yet another quality finish after missing the cut in his last tournament.
At 5-under par, just one shot behind Hoffmann, we have Ken Duke, Jason Kokrak, John Peterson, Kevin Na, and Ian Poulter all sitting in a tie for 2nd. The interesting thing about this particular group is that they’ve all have played really well this season.
Poulter almost won the Honda Classic, Kokrak finished T-7 last week, Duke finished T-4 at the McGladrey Classic and T-9 at the OHL Classic. Peterson has made the cut in seven of his last eight tournaments, and Na has finished in the top ten the last two weeks.
So, it shouldn’t be too much of a shock to see them near the top of the leaderboard.
At 3 and 4-under we have a ton of notable golfers. At 4-under, in a tie for 7th, we have defending champion Matt Every, Billy Horschel, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott, Hunter Mahan, and horse for the course Keegan Bradley.
It’s good to see Every competing and back near the top of the leaderboard once again. Since winning last year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, Every has been nowhere to be found. Bradley is looking to getting that win after coming up just short for the past two years.
Scott & Stenson are playing lights out golf right now. Stenson will be looking for his first major in three weeks and Scott will be looking for his second Green Jacket.
At 3-under, in a tie for 18th, sits notables: Jason Day, Russell Henley, George McNeill, Sean O’Hair, Louis Oosthuizen, Webb Simpson, and Justin Thomas.
Other notable golfers include:
At 2-under, in a tie for 32nd, K.J. Choi, Hideki Matsuyama, and Rory McIlroy. At 1-under, in a tie for 51st, Paul Casey, Ernie Els, Rickie Fowler, Charles Howell III, Fredrik Jacobson, Zach Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Gary Woodland.
We should also mention that coming in the API boasted the top five golfers in the world playing this week. Unfortunately, Bubba got some sad news where his childhood friend died unexpectedly Tuesday night. As you might expect and understand, Watson withdrew on Wednesday.
Unfortunately, death always serves as a reminder that it’s best to make each day count because you just never know how much time you have on this Earth. We here at Pro Golf Now send our thoughts and prayers to the families affected.