Editor’s note: NC State rising junior and reigning NCAA men’s golf champion Matt Hill, playing in his first career PGA Tour event as an amateur, shot a 1-over 71 Thursday in the first round of the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club. He tees off Friday at 1:52 p.m.
BETHESDA, Md. –This is not easy to say: I was nervous standing on the first tee Thursday morning. Throughout this past college golf season, I was able to control my nerves for the most part, which is one of the reasons I was able to have some success throughout the year.
But, standing on the No. 10 tee box at Congressional Country Club, for my first hole in a PGA Tour event, I was a little shaky. This is Tiger Woods’ tournament. I am playing in the same field with some of my childhood heroes. There was a massive gallery on every hole. I guess I had good reason to be nervous.
It’s also a difficult hole to begin a round: a 218-yard par-3 with a huge lake in front of the green. There is a ridge that runs right down the middle of the green and if you land on the front part of it, the ball is going to trickle back into the water. So I felt good when my first shot in a tour event not only landed on the green, but cleared the ridge and came to rest about 12 feet from the hole. I made the putt for a birdie, and started feeling good about myself because it was a pretty nice way to start.
That didn’t last too long, however, because on the very next hole I made a double bogey, because I hit my second shot into a water hazard. I guess after making a good shot on the first hole, I relaxed a little bit. And that brought back the nerves.
I settled down after missing a couple of short birdie putts on 12 and 13, but made two more bogeys on the back side, along with another pretty nice birdie on No. 15 to make made the turn at 2-over with a 37. With only four pars on those nine holes, I wasn’t very consistent, which is usually the best part of my game.
But I settled down on my second nine, which started on hole No. 1. I felt like I was driving the ball pretty well all day, and was in the top 20 in both driving accuracy and distance. On my 10th and 11th holds, No. 1 and 2 on the course, I made a couple of 12-foot putts to save par, and that got my blood pumping a little more.
I did make one more bogey, on the 427-yard fourth hole, but I finished the round with two birdies on my last four holes, thanks to a pair of 15-foot putts. I probably missed a good opportunity for another birdie on the par-5 No. 9, to get my round back to even, but I didn’t have much of a shot of making my 25-foot birdie putt.
It would have been nice to finish the round at even-par, just for the psychological advantage of not have a plus number beside my name. That would have also tied me with fellow Bright's Grove native and former Masters champion Mike Weir. But it just shows how every shot out here is important. If you are a professional, one shot could be the difference between thousands of dollars or just making the cut. You have to pay attention to every shot.
I guess I was a little surprised at how nervous I was. This is all pretty different than what I am used to. Usually, I like making shots under pressure. Going into the second round, I think there is probably less pressure on me now and I should be able to relax throughout the round.
Overall, I feel like I am in pretty good position after my first round. I finished in a tie for 56th, which is in the top half of the 120-player field. I had a handful of decent chances in the early part of the round that I didn’t capitalize on. Today, I am going to try to do more with those chances and play smarter golf. I just need to keep hitting fairways, like I did in the first round.
But overall I felt pretty good about how I played. My goal of making the cut is definitely within reach.
Courtesy: NC State
