Wesley Bryan, Cody Gribble share lead at Honda

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — One reason Martin Kaymer enjoys the Honda Classic is because he doesn’t feel as though he has to make a bunch of birdies.

On such a serene Thursday at PGA National, that was required to keep pace.

A pair of PGA Tour rookies who last played this course at Q-school for the Web.com Tour, Cody Gribble and Wesley Bryan, each opened with a 6-under 64 in the morning and it stood the rest of the day. The wind never really materialized. The greens remained soft from a big rain the day before. More than half of the field was at par or better. Kaymer, a two-time major champion from Germany playing on a sponsor exemption, chipped in from behind the 17th green for birdie and closed with a two-putt birdie from 40 feet for a 65. He was one shot behind, along with Anirban Lahiri of India.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., Rickie Fowler and Ian Poulter were part of a large group at 66.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., were at 1-under 69.

candidates to host the 2024 Olympics — Los Angeles and Paris. Aware of the dwindling numbers — made smaller this week with the withdrawal of Budapest, Hungary — Bach has floated the idea of giving one city the 2024 Games and the other the 2028 Games.

Leaders involved with both bids say they’re focused only on 2024. Still, Bach is likely to keep his proposal afloat, in part because it could prevent a similar bid embarrassment four years down the road. The final decision will be made at an International Olympic Committee meeting in September.

Mark Dyreson, a Penn State professor who specializes in sports in society, said “The Olympic movement has been here before.”

“Basically, it’s where it was in the 1970s and ’80s, where the costs became so prohibitive and huge, the political issues were so overwhelming, that nobody wanted to bid,” Dyreson said.