Jeff Osberg takes lead in weather-delayed first round of GAP Patterson Cup
Osberg led the 69 players who teed off in the morning and finished their rounds before thunderstorms arrived in the afternoon at Malvern's Applebrook Golf Club, leaving 69 players still needing to finish their opening rounds on Thursday.
The weather was not kind on Wednesday to contestants competing at Applebrook Golf Club in the Patterson Cup, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s final major championship of the season.
Play was suspended at 2:20 p.m. because of approaching thunderstorms and then called for the day at 4:40 p.m., with 63 contestants on the course and six yet to start their opening round.
Kirby Martin, GAP’s director of competitions, said that if the weather cooperates, the tournament will resume Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Martin said a “rolling cut” would be established and that second-round play would begin around 1:30 p.m.
A total of 69 players were able to complete 18 holes in the morning, with Pine Valley’s Jeff Osberg leading the pack by one stroke after shooting a 4-under-par 67.
Osberg, the winner of last month’s Philadelphia Open and the leader in the 2019 GAP player-of-the-year race, eagled the 10th hole and carded three birdies and a bogey over the 6,744-yard Malvern layout. He is seeking his third Patterson Cup victory, winning the event in 2010 and 2016.
“Applebrook’s a place that I really enjoy playing, really love the course,” Osberg said. “Definitely, I felt a little bit of pressure with knowing the course extremely well, and obviously have a lot on the line with this tournament and high hopes for it, but I felt really good about my game overall.”
Matt Teesdale of Lulu shot a 31 on the back nine, sparked by an eagle at No. 10, and stood in second place at 68, one stroke ahead of LedgeRock’s Grant Skyllas. Oscar Mestre, 59, of Overbrook, was in fourth place after a 70.
Osberg hit three of Applebrook’s four par-5’s in two and capitalized on his power at No. 10, hitting driver and 7-iron on the 573-yard hole and sinking a 10-foot putt for an eagle. He went on to finish in the 60s for the sixth time in seven stroke-play rounds in GAP majors this season.
“I hadn’t really thought about that,” he said. “I don’t want to say it’s surprising to hear, but I didn’t know that. It’s great.”
He added, "I think today I did well preparing for each shot and kind of moving on past that shot, whether it’s good or bad, and moving on to the next one. I think most of it is mental, and a little bit is that I’m playing well. But, I think, definitely, the mental piece of that really kind of sets it apart.”