Deja vu: Trio tied for first-round lead at 77th Tom Hoover Ozark Invitational

Like clockwork, the strong winds appeared Saturday at the Westwood Hills Country Club during the opening round of the 77th Tom Hoover Ozark Invitational.

Despite the harsh gusts of wind, many golfers managed to finish under par or broke even for a solid first round.

“It was a grind today,” said Joshua Rhodes, who is from Paducah, Kentucky and won the Ozark in 2016 and tied for sixth last year.

“Out of my 12 years of participating in this event, I would say that this was one of the top three toughest rounds I’ve played in. My group played through some pretty tough winds, but thankfully they didn’t double-cut because I don’t think the ball would have stayed still. Mostly, it was just a round of ups and downs of really good players trying to survive.”

Rhodes ended Saturday tied for first with Jaiden Chavez — who’s made great strides after placing 27th last year — and Jason White. The three players tied for the first-round lead on last year’s first-round leaderboard before Chad Niezing pulled away in the second round for a five-shot victory. Rhodes also led after the first round when he won the 2016 title.

All three were the only players under par with a lead at 1-under-par 70 and will be in the final group to tee off in the second round Sunday.

Rhodes said he likes the position he’s in heading into the second round, and his main goal for the Ozark is to keep the ball out front and try not to overswing.

His round Saturday featured one eagle, three birdies, 10 pars and four bogeys. After a par-eagle start, Rhodes parred twice before back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 5 and 6. He found his stride around hole No.11, where he parred seven times and finished the final hole with a birdie.

“I always just seem to finish in the top ten, so my mindset heading into the second round is just to relax and play,” Rhodes said.

There was a trio tied for fourth as Patrick Britt, Hunter Parish and Poplar Bluff’s Alex Wiseman all finished at even-par 71.

Wiseman significantly jumped from where he placed 27th in last year’s Ozark Invitational. Compared to the golfers placed ahead, Wiseman had one of the best scores in the first nine holes with 37. He finished with five birdies, eight pars and five bogies.

“I think I played good for the most part,” Wiseman said. “I had to play through some windy hills, and it really changed the dynamic as it turned some great shots into pars, but hitting those five birdies really helped.”

With the benefit of growing up in Poplar Bluff, Wiseman said it’s an advantage because he’s been playing on the Westwood Hills golf course all of his life.

“Today, I saw that advantage on pin 13. I’ve played it before and knew exactly where to put it from. I was able to hit my spot on the green and had a straight uphill putt, while everyone else in my group was struggling. I think being from around the area helped a lot.”

Wiseman said his plan for round two is to hit more greens and keep making his putts.

Today was the first opening round without a score in the 60s since 1986 for the championship division.

Jeff Eiserman of Springfield stunned the golfers for the senior division as he finished ahead 2-under-par 69.

His round Saturday featured four birdies, 12 pars and two bogies. Eiserman pard for most of the round and only saw hiccups on holes No. 5 and 16. Following Eiserman was a seven-way tie for second as all scored 2-over-par 73.

The senior division will kick things off Sunday at 8 a.m., and the championship division will follow.

77th TOM HOOVER OZARK INVITATIONAL

At Westwood Hills Country Club, par 71 (6,391 yards)

CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION

Joshua Rhodes, Paducah, Ky., 70

Jaiden Chavez, Odessa, Texas, 70

Jason White, St. Charles, Mo., 70

Patrick Britt, St Louis, Mo., 71

Alex Wiseman, Poplar Bluff, Mo., 71

Hunter Parish, Columbia, Mo., 71

Chad Niezing, Manchester, Mo., 72

Ben Brumitt, Poplar Bluff, Mo., 73

Chris Love, Poplar Bluff, Mo., 73

Matt Petersen, Lakeland, Fla., 73

Addison White, Springfield, Mo., 73

Ryan Ekelcamp, Washington, Mo., 74

Nate Frederick, Springfield, Mo., 74

Jeremy Tandoy, Broken Arrow, Okla., 74

Brent Mertz, Overland Park, Kan., 74

Zack Stricker, Poplar Bluff, Mo., 75

Ian Lambert, Jackson, Mo., 75

Derek Reynolds, Springfield, Mo., 75

Hunter Pyland, Poplar Bluff, Mo., 75

Ron Mangold, Pocahontas, Ark., 76

Chris Dale, St. Louis, Mo., 76

Matthew Scott, Paducah, Ky., 76

Travis Simmons, Memphis, Tenn., 76

SENIOR DIVISION

Jeff Eiserman, Springfield, Mo., 69

Tom Barry, St Louis, Mo., 73

Kevin Rome, Kansas City, Kan., 73

Brian Haskell, St Joseph, Mo., 73

David Strickland, Fenton, Mo., 73

Brad Thielemier, Poplar Bluff, Mo., 73

Kyle Viehl, Maryville, Ill., 73

Tod Rose, West Plains, Mo., 73

Brian Hall, O’Fallon, Mo., 74

Kirk Viehl, Edwardsville, Ill., 74

Tim Holmes, Springfield, Mo., 75

Sean McQueary, Springfield, Mo., 75

Buddy Allen, Pevely, Mo., 75

Wayne Frederick, Springfield, Mo., 75

Jerrod Murphy, Poplar Bluff, Mo., 76

Don Kuehn, Kansas City, Mo., 76

Doug Flowers, Springfield, Mo., 76