Nisbet best Aussie at Sahalee
BY Anthony Powter | US Mens Amateur Tour | 2009 Sahalee Players Championship | Round One | 02 Jul 2009
In-form Queenslander Daniel Nisbet fired an opening 1-over-par, 73 to be the best placed Australian at the Sahalee Players Championship being played at the Sahalee Country Club in Seattle.
Nisbet, a four time winner this season back home in Australia, is currently in a tie for 21st and six strokes behind first round leader Jake Koppenberg. Matt Giles, runner-up in this event last year, opened with a disappointing 7-over-par 79 to be well down the leaderboard.
Tasmania’s Ryan McCarthy, the other Australian competing this week in Seattle, will be disappointed this evening after being disqualified for signing a wrong score card. McCarthy signed for a 2-under-par, 70, instead of a 71. The mistake was costly as the 2009 Tasmanian Open and Tasmanian Amateur champion would have been in good position in a tie for 9th position had he not made the error.
21-year-old Koppenberg, who hails from Western Washington University, fired a bogey free 5-under par 67 to set the pace at the championship in a field that includes the 2007 Canadian Amateur Champion Nick Taylor who recently shot a 5-under 65 in the second round at Bethpage Black, matching the best score by an amateur in US Open history.
Taylor, ranked the world number one amateur according to the R&A, is currently in a tie for 3rd at 3-under-par, two strokes behind Koppenberg.
The 2009 event marks the 16th year of the tournament at Sahalee, which played host to the 1998 PGA Championship. Past champions of the Sahalee Players Championship include Ryan Moore, Arron Oberholser, Jason Gore and Casey Martin.
