Trio of 65s lead Colonial; 2-time champs 2 back, Spieth even

FORT WORTH, TEXAS » Jon Rahm was at Colonial during tournament week each of the past two years to accept the Ben Hogan Award that goes to the nation’s top college golfer. This time, he’s playing in the PGA Tour event at Hogan’s Alley and among the leaders.

With his 4-under 66 on Thursday, Rahm was a stroke behind first-round leaders Kelly Kraft, Derek Fathauer and PGA Tour rookie J.T. Poston.

That also put Rahm ahead of two-time Colonial champs Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson after both birdied their last three holes for 67s. He also led 2016 winner Jordan Spieth, whose even-par round included six birdies.

“The last two times I was here, all I recorded was super happy and positive memories,” Rahm said. “It’s just the vibe that I have around this place is so positive, especially with Sergio (Garcia) winning and with the Ben Hogan history that I’m related to now.”

The 22-year-old Rahm, the winner at Torrey Pines in January, had only one bogey while playing with Masters champion Garcia, the fellow Spaniard who won in his first Colonial appearance in 2001.

Kraft and Graeme McDowell, tied with Rahm for fourth, had the only bogeyfree rounds. Only 33 of the 121 players finished the first round under par.

Scott Brown had the other 66, and had the outright lead at 6 under before a double bogey at No. 18.

Lewis, Hsu tied for lead after first round in Michigan

ANN ARBOR, MICH. » WeiLing Hsu holed out a 7-iron for an eagle on the very first hole she played, setting the tone for a terrific start.

At the end of the day, the unheralded golfer from Taiwan was tied atop the leaderboard with one of the LPGA Tour’s most successful players.

Hsu shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday and shared the lead with Stacy Lewis after the first round of the LPGA Volvik Championship. Hsu eagled two of her first five holes and was 6 under after six. She and Lewis finished a stroke ahead of 18-yearold Nelly Korda.

“I have a very tough year last year,” Hsu said. “I just want to improve more. This year I’m able to see my shot going to the hole, going to making the green in regulation more.”

Hsu has only one top-10 finish on the LPGA Tour, and that came in her rookie year of 2015. She finished tied for 43rd last week in the Kingsmill Championship after missing the cut in the previous four events.

Lewis, meanwhile, is a former world No. 1 with 11 LPGA victories — although she’s winless in 72 events since June 2014. She has 12 second-place finishes since her last win.

Johan Carlsson takes BMW PGA lead at revamped Wentworth

VIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND » Johan Carlsson shot a 6-under 66 on Thursday to take the first-round lead in the BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour’s flagship event at Wentworth Club’s revamped West Course.

The 30-year-old Swede had eight birdies and two bogeys.

“Obviously, this week is a big week and I’ve always had that goal in mind that this is going to be a tournament to get it around no matter what,” Carlsson said. “Play with what you have and that’s what I did. I didn’t try to hit any super fancy shots. I just played with what I had and I think that was the key to success.”

Italy’s Francesco Molinari, Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson were a stroke back. British Open champion Henrik Stenson was at 68 along with Shane Lowry, Thomas Pieters, Bradley Dredge, Graeme Storm, Alex Noren, Ross Fisher, Branden Grace and Nino Bertasio.