Ellis fires a four-under 68 at Poppy Hills; Gavilan alum six
strokes off lead after first day at AT
&
amp;T Pro-Am
Pebble Beach – It’s too early to know whether John Ellis will want to remember his performance at this year’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
But he’ll sure remember how it started.
On his first hole Thursday, the 511-yard par-5 10th hole of Poppy Hills, Ellis drained a 20-foot putt for eagle. The dramatic shot elicited a roar from his group’s pro-Ellis gallery, which included a large gathering of his family and friends.
From there, Ellis was ready to go.
The 25-year-old former Gavilan student, who received a sponsor’s exemption to get into the tournament, finished the day with a 4-under 68, six strokes behind leader Luke Donald (-10).
“That always helps,” said Ellis, recalling the eagle. “It relaxed the nerves. I was really nervous and to hit two good shots and make a 20-footer for eagle was pretty nice.
“It set the tone and I hit a bunch of good shots on that front nine,” he added.*Twenty other players are also at 4-under, including Jim Furyk, Charles Howell III, Craig Stadler and Vijay Singh.
In Ellis’ first nine holes, which was the back nine of Poppy Hills, the Live Oak grad bogeyed the par-4 13th hole. But he bounced back to birdie 14, 17 and 18 and make the turn with a 4-under 32.
“I could have had a few more (birdies) on the front nine. But then I also got away with a couple poor shots and got them up and down,” Ellis said. “So I was pretty excited. It was a good start.”
Ellis had all pars on the back nine.
“I had some chances for birdies and didn’t capitalize,” Ellis said of the second half of his round.
On the par-4 7th hole, the second-to-last of the day, Ellis watched one of those birdie opportunities – a putt inside of 10 feet – catch the edge of the hole and rim out. On the following hole, a dog-leg right, the Oregon alum found himself in big trouble when his tee shot sailed far left. His ball landed beyond the trees that separated holes eight and nine. But Ellis saved the hole on his second shot by nailing a low 5-iron shot 130 yards through a small opening in the trees to the green.
“It was a shot I probably shouldn’t have tried, but I felt pretty in-control of my golf ball,” Ellis said. “There was one little branch I needed to go under and get it around.”
As anticipated, the weather was close to perfect Thursday. That meant lower scores, a trend which could continue through the weekend if the weather holds up. But Ellis said that wouldn’t change his approach to his next two rounds too much.
“You have to be more aggressive than you would normally be,” Ellis said. “I’m not going to feel the extra pressure to try to go low. I’m just going to do what I do on those golf courses and hopefully it’s low enough to catch the (leaders).”
Ellis tees off at Spyglass Hill today at 8:30am. Of the three Pebble Beach courses, Poppy Hills was the course Ellis was least familiar with. Playing as an amateur in the tournament two years ago, Ellis shot 1-over on the course.
“It was nice to play well here, for sure,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to play any better on those other golf courses, but I’m more familiar and I’m more comfortable with those courses.”
