PHOENIX — John Huston’s caddie has seen this act before.
Travis, in his first full year caddying for his dad, laughed when asked about their two-hour, 17-minute first round Thursday.
“He’s well-known for how fast he plays and our whole family is that way, so it’s a good way to be,” Travis said.
There were 36 golfers who qualified for the PGA Tour Champions season finale at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship but only 33 arrived at Phoenix Country Club this week.
Because of the odd number, Huston, who was the last golfer to qualify in the field, went off by alone at 10:20 a.m. local time (12:20 p.m. ET). He quickly birdied the first two holes and he was off and running. OK, not quite running but he was quickly making his way around the golf course.
“There’s not that many guys that like to get around, but there’s a few,” John said. “It was pretty nice just to play at my own pace.”
It worked. Huston posted seven birdies, including one on the par-5 closing hole, with the putt dropping at 12:37 p.m. local time to cap off a 6-under 65. The final group of Steve Alker and Padraig Harrington started their first round 23 minutes later.
“The faster he plays, the better I’ve seen him play. I kind of expected him to play pretty good,” Travis said.
2 hours and 17 minutes
John Huston sprinted his way to a 66 and the early lead @SchwabCupFinale playing solo. pic.twitter.com/wUt9VDSwXr
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) November 10, 2022
Even with his putting, there’s no time wasted.
“He says while he’s walking up to the green he’s already reading it so he already has an idea when he gets there. He doesn’t tend to go around the other side or anything. He just looks from behind and goes. It’s worked pretty good.”
John said it’s not the quickest competitive round he’s ever played.
“I played a round faster than this on the regular Tour, but it was a Sunday get out-of-town round,” he said, proclaiming “I think it was 1:40-something.”
Was a marker made available today?
“They didn’t ask. They probably knew,” Huston said, smiling.
If his scores holds up, he’ll go from the first one out Thursday to playing in the final group Friday.
“Maybe they’ll go the other way and let me play by myself in the last group,” he joked.