Rose sets early pace as PGA Tour returns from shutdown
Scoring conditions were ideal at venerable Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas
Birds were chirping and birdies were falling as the PGA Tour resumed play Thursday with the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
Colonial CC member Ryan Palmer hit the first tee shot at 7:50 a.m. as the Tour headed into uncharted territory full of uncertainty after a 91-day break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It also was a day full of red numbers. On a bright, peaceful, windless day among the ancient trees of classical Colonial, the dominant sounds came from birds instead of spectators, who are not allowed for the first four PGA Tour events.
Also drifting about the barren grounds were the soft tones of congratulations from player to player after good shots and good putts. The silence was further shattered by bulked up Bryson DeChambeau, who was large and in charge with deafening drives that crashed through the 300-yard barrier to the tune of 354, 333, 337, 322, 317, 353 and 322 yards.
Justin Rose, who won here in 2018 but has struggled to find his best form for months, made the most noise with a bogey-free, 7-under-par 63 to set the pace among the early finishers in the star-studded field of 148.
“Felt quite subdued out there for sure,” Rose said. “Sometimes you get up really early and some morning rounds on Tour can kind feel of a little subdued and quiet, but it never really picked up. Obviously it’s a bit of a strange situation for sure. It kind of feels like a competitive practice round.
“But obviously I think we all know what’s on the line. We all know what we’re playing for. We all know the competition this week is incredible.”
His score held up throughout the day, though he was caught for a tie for the lead by Harold Varner III.
With ideal scoring conditions on hand at vulnerable Colonial, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Jhonattan Vegas and Abraham Ancer came home with 64s.
Nine players were at 65, including DeChambeau, Texas native Jordan Spieth and 61-year-old Tom Lehman, who won here in 1995.
Ten more players were at 66. World No. 1 Rory McIlroy and No. 3 Brooks Koepka were among those at 68. Phil Mickelson made a run at the leaders with three consecutive birdies but dropped back and finished with a 69, along with World No. 2 Jon Rahm. Defending champion Kevin Na shot 72.
“It’s certainly awkward not having everybody out here, but I’m certainly proud of the steps the PGA Tour has taken to have everybody be safe, feel safe in this environment and to hopefully entertain and have some people watching on TV even though they’re not here,” said Mickelson, who turns 50 on June 16. “I was certainly a little bit rusty and nervous but had a good round going, then kind of let it slide there in the end. But it was fun to be back out and competing.”
Rose couldn’t wait to get back to try to put his recent poor form behind him. In four starts on the Tour this year, he had missed three cuts and finished in a tie for 56th. He stands 205th in the FedExCup standings, has broken 70 just twice in 10 rounds and fallen from No. 3 in the world last summer to No. 14.
He began Thursday with three consecutive birdies and didn’t falter thereafter. Rose needed just 24 putts but didn’t need his putter on his first hole when he rolled in his birdie from off the green using a hybrid. Rose playfully tipped his cap to an imaginary crowd. Despite his lowest round at Colonial, better things may be on hand.
“The good thing is I feel like I didn’t max everything out today,” Rose said. “Yes, my short game was good, my putting was good, but I feel like there’s another level there or another gear or two with the long game, so yeah, I feel like it’s important even though today was 63, I feel like it’s important to still be able to grow into the week and have areas of my game that can improve.”
Varner hit all 18 greens in regulation – just the third person to do that at Colonial in the past 25 years, one of the others being Tiger Woods – and needed just 29 putts.
“Good to be back inside the ropes and just doing what I love to do, play golf and have fun,” Varner said. “I work my tail off to play and to get back inside the ropes. No one is asking anything, you’re doing what you’re good at.”