Rahm, 22, challenges at Colonial with 66
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 twotime 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 bogey-free 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.
Spieth, coming off missed cuts the past two weeks, was tied for 34th his six birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey. He was even par after birdies on his last two holes.
“It’s a great finish. Kept me in the tournament,” Spieth said. “If I was a couple over, you know, in the back of my mind I would be wondering about the cut line.”
After two bogeys on the first four holes, Spieth made 4-foot birdie putt at the 466-yard No. 5 hole, and made a 10-foot birdie at the 168-yard, par-3 13th.
In between those birdies at two of Colonial’s toughest holes, Spieth made a nearly 40-foot putt to save par after a wayward drive at No. 9. His drive at the 10th went into a concrete culvert for another bogey, and he missed the fairway right again at the 622-yard 11th, only to get back in the fairway and go on to a 2-foot birdie.
“Hit some very solid shots. With gusty winds, it’s not going to end up where you think it’s going to a lot of the time,” Spieth said. “I felt like I missed some fairways by 1-5 yards today. That made a complete difference in the way the hole played.”
LPGA Volvik
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Wei-Ling 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 (University of Arkansas) 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-year-old 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.
Lewis birdied three of her first four holes and reached 15 greens in regulation on the 6,734-yard course at Travis Pointe Country Club. She eagled the par-5 14th and capped her round with a small fist pump after a birdie on 18.
“I looked up at the leaderboard and saw I was tied for the lead, so I kind of just wanted to get out there ahead,” Lewis said. “It’s always nice to see yourself atop the leaderboard.”
Senior PGA
STERLING, Va. — Shrugging off fatigue from last week’s victory, Bernhard Langer shot a 7-under 65 Thursday to take a two-shot lead in the first round of the Senior PGA Championship.
The 59-year-old German could break Jack Nicklaus’ record of eight senior majors with a win at Trump National. He tied Nicklaus last week with a five-shot victory at the Regions Tradition. He would also become the first player to win all five of the current senior majors.
Langer started with five straight pars on a cool, misty morning before sparse galleries. The start was delayed 80 minutes because of overnight rain that saturated President Donald Trump’s already-soft course on the shores of the Potomac River, about 25 miles from Washington.
“I was really tired on Monday and Tuesday, really low on energy,” Langer said. “Today, I felt fine. I got up early at 5 a.m. and went through my stretching routine and stuff and then heard about the delay, so sat around for an hour and a half, got all stiff again, so that part didn’t help.”
Langer’s lead held up as afternoon thunderstorms halted play for the day with half of the 156-man field still on the course.
BMW PGA
VIRGINIA WATER, England — British Open champion Henrik Stenson shot a bogey-free, 4-under 68 to lie two strokes off the lead held by Swedish compatriot Johan Carlsson after the first round of the BMW PGA Championship on Thursday.
All four of Stenson’s birdies came on the back nine as Wentworth rolled out its new greens for the signature event on the European Tour. They appeared to meet with widespread approval, especially from Carlsson, whose hot run came on the front nine where he reached the turn in 30 shots, thanks to five birdies.
“The greens are so good. I love this golf course right now,” said Carlsson, who had eight birdies in total in his 66. “I think it has become so much better.”
Ernie Els was behind the latest changes to the West Course following criticism of his original redesign in 2010. The renovation program started eight days after Chris Wood’s victory last year, with all 18 greens stripped of their old turf and reseeded.
The greens on Nos. 8, 11, 14 and 16 were completely rebuilt and another five were partially rebuilt. All the bunkers were redesigned.
Carlsson holds a one-shot lead over Francesco Molinari, Scott Jamieson and Kiradech Aphibarnrat.