Na closes well for lead in Fort Worth Invitational
FORT WORTH, Texas — Kevin Na stood over his golf ball after taking a drop in the rough beside the ninth green at Colonial Country Club following two wayward shots. It was his final hole of Thursday’s opening round of the PGA Tour’s Fort Worth Invitational, and he had a share of the lead.
As Na looked toward the hole more than 90 feet away, he saw the huge ridge going through the middle of the green. Then he noticed the caddie of one of his playing partners move a bag from behind the green.
“Because I can chip it over the right down the other side,” Na said.
Instead, Na chipped in for an incredible birdie to wrap up an 8-under-par 62. That gave him a one-stroke advantage over Charley Hoffman, who also had a bogey-free round. Tied for third at 64 were Emiliano Grillo, Beau Hossler, Andrew Putnam and Jhonattan Vegas.
Na’s tee shot at the 399-yard ninth hole went into the rough to the right, then his approach flew over the green and settled against a temporary grandstand. His relief was a drop into more rough, but after the chip landed on the green, the ball started to curl toward the cup.
“It got over the ridge, and I was like, ‘This is going to be good. It’s going to be close.’ Then it catches the right lip,” Na said, describing it as a perfect chip.
This is the sixth time Na has had a first-round lead, and it’s his third at Colonial.
“This is a great golf course for me. Every year I come here I have high, high expectations,” he said, before emphasizing a note that had been relayed by a PGA Tour media official. “Did you hear what he said? I’ve had the lead a few times. He never said I won, did he?”
Na’s best finish at Colonial is a tie for seventh in 2007, and his only PGA Tour victory came seven years ago in Las Vegas.
After starting the day with six consecutive pars, Na went 6 under on a five-hole stretch he called one of the best in his career. There were birdies at Nos. 16 through 18 before his approach at the 558-yard first hole rolled to three feet from the cup to set up an eagle putt. He made a nearly 50-footer at the second hole.
Sixty of the 121 players in the field were under par, and another 16 shot 70. Jordan Spieth, the No. 3 player in the world and a Dallas native, shot a 69 and was tied for 44th; 2017 tournament champion Kevin Kisner shot a 72 and had a share of 88th.
Harris English, the only one of the four Baylor School graduates on the PGA Tour who is playing this week, was tied for 30th at 68.