Casual day? Not for tie-wearing Moore
Not since the 1930s has a Western Open/BMW champion won while resplendent in a tie.
That could change this year if Ryan Moore keeps tearing things up the way he did Thursday morning in the first round.
The 28-year-old set a back-nine scoring record with a 29 and set back the clock to about 1929 with his retro look of a white shirt, dark cardigan sweater and deep red tie.
"I love this look," said Moore, who finished at 6 under, a shot off the lead. "I love that golf used to have that look and I like to wear it when I can - when weather permits. It's not for attention or anything like that."
But he sure gets it when he does don those duds.
"Everybody in the crowd absolutely loves it," Moore said. "Everywhere I go, anywhere I've worn it, they love it. I went over to the British Open this year after wearing it at the Masters and during the practice rounds that's all the people would ask me, what my ties were going to be like that week."
As for his record-breaking back nine, the laid-back Moore was typically laid back about it.
"I had no idea; I wasn't paying attention at all, to be honest," said Moore, who came into the BMW Championship 58th on the points list. "I've never made it to Atlanta (for The Tour Championship) and really, at this point I'm not really planning on it. My mindset is that I'm here to play hard and try to win a golf tournament and wherever it falls from there - that's out of my control."
Local focus: A pair of bogeys over his final nine holes put a little damper on an otherwise solid day for former Northwestern star Luke Donald (3 under).
"I made a lot of birdies out there today, but 3 bogeys was a little disappointing just because I didn't short game it well enough from relatively simple up and downs," Donald said.
Wheaton's Kevin Streelman had a bogey and a pair of double bogeys over his first six holes but threw together 5 birdies on the back nine to battle back to an even-par finish.
Lovin' it? Phil Mickelson missed Wednesday's pro-am but got some practice in at Butler National, the former host course of the Western Open.
"Yeah, I went over to Butler and that's in great shape," Mickelson said following his 1-over round Thursday. "The greens there were just pristine, and I had a nice, relaxing day and was able to get my game sharp."
He said it: Ian Poulter, comparing match play with fellow pros during practice rounds to match play during the Ryder Cup: "You might go and play with your friends for 50 bucks, 100 bucks, but that just doesn't mean anything. That's not match play compared to what it is when you're on the first tee and you know you have to bring a point home for your captain, otherwise he's going to be mad. That's a little different."