DJ, Bryson struggle at Workday
Simpson, Fitzpatrick tied atop leaderboard
Webb Simpson ran off three straight late birdies for a share of the lead Thursday in the Workday Championship. Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau ran up some big numbers.
Simpson matched Matthew Fitzpatrick with a 6-under 66 at The Concession in the World Golf Championships event moved from Mexico City to Florida because of COVID19 circumstances.
GOLF ROUNDUP
Simpson’s finishing stretch included a wedge to 2 feet, a 30-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole and a twoputt birdie from about 40 feet on the par-5 17th.
Fitzpatrick, who contended last week at Riviera, played bogey-free on the Jack Nicklaus design that had never been used for a PGA Tour event.
“Very pleased with the start,” Simpson said. “I worked on a couple things last week with putting alignment and with my driver and I saw good things from that today. You always want to see it first round back, but it doesn’t always happen that way, so I was happy to see like tough tee shots with trouble, really stepping up and making good swings.
“And made a lot of putts today,” he added, “so that was a good feeling.”
Johnson had his first Sunday round over par in a year when he shot 72 last week while in contention. The start at this World Golf Championship was even worse.
The world’s No. 1 player drove left into the trees on the 18th hole as he was making the turn, had to pitch out sideways, came up short and then failed to get up-anddown to take double bogey. He made another double bogey on No. 5 with a tee shot into the water.
Johnson wasn’t alone in his struggles. DeChambeau also shot a 77, with his big trouble coming on the 16th. After a tee shot into the water, he went right of the fairway, came up short of the green and took three shots to get down for a triple bogey.
Bubba Watson had a 77, while Matthew Wolff shot an 83 and withdrew.
Brooks Koepka was a stroke out of the lead at 67 with Billy Horschel, Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner.
Second-ranked Jon Rahm bogeyed the final hole late in the afternoon for a 68.
Tony Finau, coming off a playoff loss to Max Homa last week at Riviera, also was at 68 with defending champion Patrick Reed, Wade Ormsby, Sungjae Im and Cameron Smith.
Rory McIlroy had three bogeys in a 69.
Gainey leads Puerto Rico Open
Tommy Gainey birdied five of the last seven holes at breezy Grand Reserve for a 7-under 65 and the firstround lead Thursday in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open.
Gainey, the 45-year-old from South Carolina who won his lone PGA Tour title in 2012, had a one-stroke lead over local favorite Rafael Campos, Robert Garrigus, Taylor Pendrith, Lee Hodges, Greg Chalmers, Fabian Gomez and Brandon Wu.
The tournament is being played opposite the World Golf Championship event in Florida. The winner will get into the PGA Championship in May but not the Masters in April.
Gainey rebounded from a three-putt bogey on the par-3 11th with birdies on the par-4 12th and 13th, par-5 15th, par-4 17th and par-5 18th.
European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington shot 70. Ian Poulter, the topranked player in the field at 59th, opened with a 71.
Sorenstam returns to LPGA Tour
Annika Sorenstam doesn’t remember golf being this difficult.
She still managed plenty of smiles Thursday when the most dominant player of her era played her first LPGA Tour event in more than 12 years.
With one birdie and one bad hole, Sorenstam had a 3-over 75 in the LPGA Gainbridge on her home course at Lake Nona.
“It seems a little bit more stressful, this kind of golf,” she said.
Sorenstam was 10 shots behind another Lake Nona member, Lydia Ko, who opened with a 7-under 65 for a two-shot lead.
But then, this week isn’t about Sorenstam adding to her 72 career victories or even starting a comeback at age 50. The LPGA Tour came to her home course and she wanted to play.
With that early heard turn and tee shots that more often than not found the fairway, it didn’t seem like Sorenstam had been away from the LPGA Tour since Nov. 23, 2008, when she retired after a three-win season to start a family.
It was the rest of the game that felt so foreign.
“I could have been more aggressive on the putts, I could have been more aggressive on iron shots,” she said. “I’m at a point in my life that it’s not automatic. It’s not a pin-seeker the way it was. Now it’s more a green-seeker. I did OK. A little more stressful golf, but overall, it’s fun.”
Lake Nona members and a few family guests were allowed, and Sorenstam found about 150 people gathered around the first tee. That constitutes a sizeable crowd in the COVID-19 pandemic era.
“I was quite nervous. I’ve been nervous for a few days,” said Sorenstam, adding that she practiced meditation that morning to help calm her down.