Stallings opens w/ 5 birdies; settles for 71
May 9, 2013 - 2:30 PM ET
Scott Stallings logged a 1-under-par 31-40=71 in his opening round of THE PLAYERS.
That's a pair of nines you don't often see linked together in a single round. Stallings started at the first hole and went birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie. The run included conversions from 35'9" at 1, 19'6" at 3 and 17'4" at 4. He'd chase it with five consecutive pars before making a mess of the par-5 11th en route to a bogey. His drive at 12 found an unplayable lie for which he took a drop and eventually swallowed a double bogey-6. After a straightforward birdie at the challenging 14th, Stallings would go on to build a snowman at the par-5 16th where he rinsed two approach shots. Therefore, his birdie conversion from 16'11" at the par-4 18th clinched the red number that seemed in the bag just five holes into his round. He's making his second visit to TPC Sawgrass, but the course doesn't care who you are of what kind of pedigree you bring. Stalling's lid-lifter was the latest proof.
