AT&T Byron Nelson: Multiple Players Go WAY Low

As i watched the Byron Nelson this week, I noticed how low players were shooting. There always seemed to be guys carding 30 on a side, and making runs at 60 or better.

I wanted to look at each round and see how low people shot, and how they ended up finishing. In some cases, a low round at the Byron Nelson was negated, as the golfer would blow it with a bad round elsewhere in the weekend.

Let’s look round-by-round and see who went WAY low and how it carried over throughout the weekend.

Round One – Lowest Round – Denny McCarthy – 63

Denny McCarthy carded the lowest round of Day One. It was even more impressive when you realize how he did it. Ten birdies in 13 holes is incredibly impressive. Unfortunately, it was short lived.

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McCarthy shot 77 on Day Two, carding just one birdie, five bogies, and a double bogey. He was then -2 for the tourney, and barely made the cut. He was never in contention after that, although he did rebound with a 65-67 to finish T23. If he could’ve held it together a bit better on Day Two, he would’ve given Kang a run for his money.

Tyler Duncan shot a 64, and ended up T5, earning a nice paycheck and some FedEx points along the way.

Sung Kang, Matt Every, Brooks Kopeka, and Matt Jones all shot 65, and would finish Top Five. All of them took advantage of a great early round to make a run come Sunday.

Chad Campbell shot 65 as well. Unfortunately, he fell apart and shot 73-72 over the next two days, and didn’t make the limited Saturday cut.

Round Two – Lowest Round – Sung Kang – 61

Sung Kang easily shot the lowest round on Day Two, shooting a 30 on the front nine, and carded six straight birdies on holes 5-10. He was -9 with four holes left. With an outside shot to get the magical 59, he wasn’t able to get there. Kang only birdied one of his last four, and went 30-31 for a 61.

Matt Every decided 65 was so nice, he wanted to do it again, carding the second best round of Day Two. The only blip during the second round for him was the 14th hole which he bogeyed. Funny enough, he eagled it the day before.

Koepka, among a group of others, shot 66. Kevin Tway did as well, with the 66 during Round Two being the only round that wasn’t an even 70. Sebastian Munoz, Doug Ghim, and Stephan Jaeger fired off 66 as well, and it helped them to top 20 finishes.

Round Three – Lowest Round – Nicholas Lindheim – 62

Lindheim easily shot his best round of the week during Round Three, carding a bogey free, nine birdie 62. His next best round was his final round, which was a three under 68. The 62 did enough to help him get to a T12, earning him a solid $154K.

The next best score of 63 was shared by two top five finishers. Scott Peircy and Peter Uihlein, who finished T2 and T5, respectively.

This is the round that did in Koepka and Matt Every, as they shot 68 and 67, respectively.

Round Four – Lowest Round – Four-Way Tie – 64

This was the only round of the week that didn’t have a solo best score, and three of the players made strong runs at the eventual winner of the Byron Nelson, Sung Kang. Scott Piercy, Peter Uihlein, and Kiradech Aphibarnrat all shot 64, and finished T2, T5, and T5. Pat Perez joined them, jumping all the way up to a T12 finish.

Brooks Koepka tried as well, firing off a 65 to finish by himself in fourth place. Koepka was likely the most consistent golfer all weekend, carding 65-66-68-65.

Round Four ended up being the only one for Cameron Tringale where he didn’t shoot 69. He carded a 65, and finished T23.

Final Thoughts on Low Rounds

The four strokes that Sung Kang gained on the field during the Second Round ended up making a huge difference. His other three rounds were 65-68-67, and it was enough for a two stroke win.

There were an incredible 15 rounds of 64 or better shot during the Byron Nelson. Piercy and Uihlein were the only ones to do it twice, as they both went 63-64 to finish the week.

The drivable par 4 5th hole stands out as a place where players were able to take advantage. Six eagles were made there, and it was the fourth easiest hole this week. The three Par 5’s held the honor of being the easiest, for a combined -1.429 +- average.

Although Kang won by two strokes, Piercy played the course without error. He made 51 pars, and 21 birders. To look at Kang, he had 2 eagles, 25 birdies, 39 pars, and 6 bogeys.

The Byron Nelson made for great viewing of a tournament the week before a Major. Especially one at such a difficult course, at Bethpage Black. Hopefully the deluge of birdies and low scores can hold fulfill you, as it’s isn’t something you are likely to see next week at the PGA Championship.