Scheffler, 7 others lead at Colonial
Players honor Uvalde victims
FORT WORTH — Scottie Scheffler did something last weekend that he rarely does, watching a golf tournament at home after missing a cut. The world’s No. 1 player is back on the course, and tied atop a crowded leaderboard at Colonial.
Scheffler was among eight players who shot 4-under 66 on Thursday in the Charles Schwab Classic. But he was the only in that group without a bogey, rebounding from his missed cut at the PGA Championship.
Cam Davis, Beau Hossler, Chris Kirk, Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Nick Taylor and Harold Varner III also shot 66s. Seven others were a shot back.
“The course is playing harder than it does in a typical year here. Yeah, I felt like I did a really good job of managing myself around the golf course,” Scheffler said. “Anytime you make no bogeys, it’s going to be a good round.”
Those who teed off in the morning wave — including Scheffler, Reed, Simpson and Varner — started with virtually no wind and cooler conditions. The wind picked up later in their rounds and gusted to 20 mph throughout the afternoon.
Defending Colonial champion Jason Kokrak and Jordan Spieth, the 2016 winner who last year became a third-time runner-up, shot 69.
Reed birdied all four par 3s at Colonial, including a 64-foot blast from the greenside bunker into the cup at the 237-yard fourth hole. His only bogey came on his last hole, after missing the fairway on the 400-yard dogleg right ninth hole.
In his previous 11 starts the past four months, Reed missed four cuts and finished no better than 26th. He has slipped to 38th in the World Golf Ranking — he was ninth when at Colonial last year.
“It feels good to get a number out of it,” Reed said about his 66. “Honestly, I feel like there’s been too many days that I’ve done a lot of things really well, just the number hasn’t really reflected it. But the great thing about a season is it’s a season.”
IN HONOR OF UVALDE: Golfers pinned maroon ribbons to their hats and a few wrote “L L L L” on their gloves and shoes to honor the victims of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting.
The four Ls are a nod to Robb Elementary School’s student mission statement of “Live. Learn. Love. Lead.” A gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at the school on Tuesday.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Something in southwest Michigan agrees with Chris DiMarco’s golf game. As a 19-year-old playing for the Florida Gators, DiMarco won the prestigious 1988 Western Amateur at Point O’Woods Golf & Country Club in Millburg, Michigan.
On Thursday in Benton Harbor, the 53-year-old was one of five golfers who shot an opening 4-under 67 at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores.
“It’s hard to remember back that far … obviously I have some great memories from there,” DiMarco said.
American Gene Sauers, Australia’s Mark Hensby, Sweden’s Joakim Haeggman and France’s Thomas Levet also had 4-under 67s at the par-71, 6,734-yard Jack Nicklaus-designed course that’s hosting its fifth Senior PGA Championship.