HORSCHEL RIGHT AT HOME
Billy Horschel has never won a PGA Tour event in his home state of Florida. His quest to change that is off to a fine start.
Horschel shot a 5-under 65 on Thursday, tying him with Joseph Bramlett for the firstround lead in the Honda Classic at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens. Bramlett had a bogey-free round; Horschel had six birdies and one bogey.
“Just played really solid,” Horschel said. “Didn’t do anything special. Hit some quality iron shots here and there. I wouldn’t say everything was sort of automatic and it was easy. I had to just sort of work my way into making some good swings here and there. But overall, it was a really solid day of golf.”
Horschel’s pre-Honda preparations included a trip to the doctor, finally giving in and getting a prescription after trying to fight off a sinus infection for a few days. He might have felt tired, but it didn’t show.
The 65 was his best score in 33 rounds as a pro at PGA National. He’d shot 66 on two previous occasions.
“Listen, there’s no secret,” said Horschel, who played his college golf at Florida. “It’s not a secret. I grind. I work hard. It’s no secret out here that I work really, really hard out here. But this week with just the way I’m feeling and everything, energy’s still not completely 100 percent every day.”
Bramlett scrambled nicely when he had to. He missed six of 14 fairways and hit 13 of 18 greens.
“I definitely like when the conditions are difficult and guys have to really earn it,” said Bramlett, who has never won on the PGA Tour. “I think that’s historically always been in my favor.”
Pierceson Coody — a sponsor exemption playing his first PGA Tour event as a professional — finished the first round at 4 under, alongside Justin Suh. Coody has two wins in 15 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour since turning pro in June.
“It really just feels like another professional event,” the grandson of 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody said. “I’ve only played (15) professional events. But other than the big grandstands it’s not that different. You’re just playing golf, you’re trying to put a good score together. No real nerves out there. Just happy to play well.”
Suh missed a 10-foot birdie putt on his last hole — No. 9 — that would have tied him for the lead.
Play was suspended for darkness, and four groups were unable to finish. Carson Young was at 4 under with three holes left to play.
Past Honda champion Sungjae Im, the top-ranked player in the field at No. 18, birdied the last and shot 3under 67. Defending champion Sepp Straka opened with a 1under 69.
Saudis dispute LIV ruling
Saudi Arabia is disputing a federal magistrate’s ruling that its sovereign wealth fund and
the fund’s governor be required to provide documents and testimony in LIV Golf ’s antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.
Attorneys for the kingdom filed a letter challenging the reasons a magistrate judge cited for allowing subpoenas of the Public Investment Fund and its governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan.
The letter was sent to U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman, who is overseeing the case in the Northern District of California.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen in a Feb. 16 decision said the PIF and al-Rumayyan are not protected by the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act because of a commercial activity exception.
The dispute centers around LIV’s argument that the PIF and al-Rumayyan provided broad oversight of the rival league. The PGA Tour says documents obtained during discovery indicate they were actively involved in signing players to LIV Golf.
According to court documents,
the PIF owns 93 percent of LIV Golf, which in the last year has paid signing fees reported to be upward of $100 million to players, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.
Elsewhere
Yannik Paul birdied his last four holes to shoot 7-under 65 and take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Indian Open in New Delhi on the European tour.
• Jennifer Kupcho fired a bogey-free 7-under 65 to share the lead alongside four other golfers after the opening round of the LPGA Thailand.
Notable
Jan Stephenson, a threetime major champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Her “Crossroads Foundation” said the cancer was stage 3 and the 71-year-old Australian will begin a treatment of chemotherapy and radiation in the next two weeks.