Golf

2014 Greenbrier Classic scores: Jonas Blixt shoots 64, leads at 6-under

Defending Greenbrier champion Jonas Blixt got his title defense off to a good start with an opening round of 64.

Jul 3, 2014, 11:19 PM UTC

Todd Warshaw

There must be something in the water at The Old White TPC that suits Jonas Blixt. The defending Greenbrier Classic champion is once again in the lead after shooting an opening-round 64 to take the lead at 6-under. Blixt has played some of his best golf in this event, with five of his last 10 rounds of 67 or better coming at The Old White TPC, according to Justin Ray of Golf Channel.

The 30-year-old opened the round strong with birdies on two of his first three holes. He dropped a shot on No. 13, before ripping off four more birdies before making the turn at 5-under. Two more birdies on his second nine gave him eight for the round, good enough for a one-stroke lead. With conditions prime for scoring, Blixt played aggressively and attacked pins, like on No. 6 where he drilled a 175-yard approach shot to three feet.

Blixt made 21 birdies on his way to winning the event last year and he’s on pace to top that number this year. After the round, he said he decided to play aggressively after stepping to the first tee.

“I talked to my caddie about it and on the first tee,” Blixt said, via Golf Channel. “There was no wind, so I just said to him, ‘I’m going to be really aggressive today.‘ He was like, ‘Yeah, I like that.’ Just go out there and make as many birdies as possible.”

While Blixt holds the first-round lead, he was one of nine players to shoot 65 or better. Eight players, including former No. 1 amateur Patrick Rodgers, are tied for second place at 5-under. Another eight players are two off the lead at 4-under, leaving a total of 17 players at 4-under or better through 18 holes. Steve Stricker is among the players at 4-under and this week could go a long way to determining his upcoming schedule. Stricker is currently not planning to play in the British Open in two weeks, but that could change if he plays well enough to move into Ryder Cup contention. A win, or top 10 finish this week would move him closer to that range.

The field includes a couple of veteran players gearing up for the British Open with Tom Watson and Nick Faldo both shooting 1-over rounds of 71. Here is a complete look at the scoreboard following the first round:

Place	Player	Score	1st Round
1	Jonas Blixt	-6	64
T2	James Hahn	-5	65
T2	Jason Bohn	-5	65
T2	Joe Durant	-5	65
T2	Chris Kirk	-5	65
T2	D.A. Points	-5	65
T2	Patrick Rodgers	-5	65
T2	Jim Renner	-5	65
T2	Danny Lee	-5	65
T10	Sang-Moon Bae	-4	66
T10	Michael Thompson	-4	66
T10	Steve Stricker	-4	66
T10	Kevin Na	-4	66
T10	Troy Merritt	-4	66
T10	Chris Stroud	-4	66
T10	Pat Perez	-4	66
T10	Chad Collins	-4	66
T18	Michael Putnam	-3	67
T18	Ben Curtis	-3	67
T18	Davis Love III	-3	67
T18	Charles Howell III	-3	67
T18	Patrick Reed	-3	67
T18	Charlie Beljan	-3	67
T18	David Lingmerth	-3	67
T18	Tyrone van Aswegen	-3	67
T18	Kevin Chappell	-3	67
T18	Luke Guthrie	-3	67
T18	Robert Allenby	-3	67
T18	Keegan Bradley	-3	67
T18	Bobby Wyatt	-3	67
T31	Gonzalo Fdez-Castano	-2	68
T31	Mark Wilson	-2	68
T31	Marc Leishman	-2	68
T31	Woody Austin	-2	68
T31	Scott Langley	-2	68
T31	John Daly	-2	68
T31	Robert Streb	-2	68
T31	Ricky Barnes	-2	68
T31	Brice Garnett	-2	68
T31	Will Wilcox	-2	68
T31	Jim Herman	-2	68
T31	Tim Wilkinson	-2	68
T31	Billy Hurley III	-2	68
T31	Camilo Villegas	-2	68
T31	Johnson Wagner	-2	68
T31	Angel Cabrera	-2	68
T31	Bubba Watson	-2	68
T31	J.B. Holmes	-2	68
T31	Steven Bowditch	-2	68
T31	David Hearn	-2	68
T31	Justin Hicks	-2	68
T31	Jamie Lovemark	-2	68
T53	Chad Campbell	-1	69
T53	James Driscoll	-1	69
T53	Jeff Maggert	-1	69
T53	Brian Davis	-1	69
T53	David Toms	-1	69
T53	Bill Haas	-1	69
T53	Trevor Immelman	-1	69
T53	Troy Kelly	-1	69
T53	Patrick Cantlay	-1	69
T53	Greg Chalmers	-1	69
T53	Gary Woodland	-1	69
T53	Stephen Ames	-1	69
T53	Steve Marino	-1	69
T53	Josh Teater	-1	69
T53	Bud Cauley	-1	69
T53	Wes Roach	-1	69
T53	Andrew Loupe	-1	69
T53	Kevin Tway	-1	69
T71	Brendan Steele	E	70
T71	Kevin Kisner	E	70
T71	Martin Flores	E	70
T71	J.J. Henry	E	70
T71	Jimmy Walker	E	70
T71	Scott Stallings	E	70
T71	Heath Slocum	E	70
T71	Spencer Levin	E	70
T71	Will MacKenzie	E	70
T71	Brad Fritsch	E	70
T71	Scott Gardiner	E	70
T71	Jason Gore	E	70
T71	Nick Watney	E	70
T71	George McNeill	E	70
T71	Matt Bettencourt	E	70
T71	Morgan Hoffmann	E	70
T71	Ted Potter, Jr.	E	70
T71	Brendon de Jonge	E	70
T71	Oliver Goss	E	70
T71	Bronson La'Cassie	E	70
T71	Alex Aragon	E	70
T92	Darren Clarke	1	71
T92	Jhonattan Vegas	1	71
T92	Justin Leonard	1	71
T92	John Peterson	1	71
T92	Scott McCarron	1	71
T92	Benjamin Alvarado	1	71
T92	Richard Lee	1	71
T92	Derek Ernst	1	71
T92	Jonathan Byrd	1	71
T92	Vijay Singh	1	71
T92	Carl Pettersson	1	71
T92	Brendon Todd	1	71
T92	Webb Simpson	1	71
T92	Tom Watson	1	71
T92	Kyle Stanley	1	71
T92	Daniel Chopra	1	71
T92	Nick Faldo	1	71
T92	Alex Prugh	1	71
T110	Rory Sabbatini	2	72
T110	Mike Weir	2	72
T110	Scott Brown	2	72
T110	Tommy Gainey	2	72
T110	Sean O'Hair	2	72
T110	Andrew Svoboda	2	72
T110	Doug LaBelle II	2	72
T110	Edward Loar	2	72
T110	Andres Romero	2	72
T110	Roberto Castro	2	72
T110	Brian Harman	2	72
T110	Harrison Frazar	2	72
T110	Ken Duke	2	72
T110	Bryce Molder	2	72
T110	Troy Matteson	2	72
T110	Cameron Tringale	2	72
T110	Kevin Foley	2	72
T110	Hudson Swafford	2	72
T128	Brian Anania	3	73
T128	Paul Goydos	3	73
T128	Thorbjorn Olesen	3	73
T128	Neal Lancaster	3	73
T128	William McGirt	3	73
T128	Shawn Stefani	3	73
T128	Stuart Appleby	3	73
T128	D.H. Lee	3	73
T128	Ben Martin	3	73
T128	Tim Clark	3	73
T128	John Huh	3	73
T128	Jeff Curl	3	73
T128	Robert McClellan	3	73
T128	Miguel Angel Carballo	3	73
T142	Charlie Wi	4	74
T142	K.J. Choi	4	74
T142	Peter Hanson	4	74
T142	Nicholas Thompson	4	74
T146	Scott Verplank	5	75
T146	Y.E. Yang	5	75
T146	Chesson Hadley	5	75
T146	Daniel Summerhays	5	75
T146	John Rollins	5	75
T146	Peter Malnati	5	75
T152	Tag Ridings	6	76
T152	Brian Agee	6	76
154	Mikey Moyers	7	77
155	Rod Perry	8	78