PGA Tour event pays tribute to Jarrod Lyle

The PGA Tour has remembered Australian golfer Jarrod Lyle on a day when Brandt Snedeker joined an elite club of golfers with an 11-under par 59.

By Australian Associated Press
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Brandt Snedeker fired the round of his life but the best shot during the opening day of the Wyndham Championship could easily been made by Aaron Baddeley.

After Baddeley hit his first tee shot at the Wyndham Championship on his way to a five-under 65, he reached into his bag for his phone.

The 37-year-old then took a camera shot to capture an image of a moment that meant everything to the five Australians in this week's field at the Sedgefield Country Club.

Sitting on the first tee was a golf bag and a set of clubs with a yellow bucket hat sitting on top.

Belonging to Jarrod Lyle, it took pride of place as a tribute to the much-loved Australian golfer who died last week after fighting myeloid leukaemia for two decades.

"When I hit my tee shot I turned around and saw it and I was like 'oh, man, I've got to get a picture of that'," Baddeley told pgatour.com.

The 2016 Wyndham Championship is the last tournament Lyle played on the PGA Tour and he birdied the 18th hole in his final round at Sedgefield.

"These are sad days for the PGA Tour family," tournament director Mark Brazil said.

"I knew Jarrod to be one of the kindest human beings on Tour, and I know all the guys, especially the Australians, will really miss him."

The tribute will remain throughout the tournament and players have been given yellow belts and bucket hats to wear during the four days.

Baddeley is the leading Australian after the opening round but he finds himself five shots adrift of Snedeker who put himself in rare Tour company with an 11-under 59.

He has a share of 11th place as he fights to keep his PGA Tour card while trying to secure a berth in the season-ending FedEx Cup playoffs.

Baddeley's Tour exempt status expires this week after four wins in the United States and he is relying on a top-10 finish to save his card.

Fellow Australian Cameron Percy is two shots behind Baddeley after a three-under par 67 while Tour veteran Stuart Appleby had a one-under 69.

Snedeker predicted low scores, but not this low.

His 59 on Thursday was one shot shy of matching the PGA Tour record.

He made a 20-foot putt on his final hole to become the 10th player in Tour history to break 60.

Jim Furyk set the record with a 58 in the final round of the Travelers Championship in 2016.

"I better be smiling," Snedeker said. "I don't do this every day."

This is the third consecutive year the PGA Tour has had a sub-60 round and Snedeker's gave him a four-stroke lead.


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