Gilbert in top 10 at Senior PGA
PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Scott Parel took advantage of ideal scoring conditions Thursday morning to shoot a 4-underpar 66 and grab the first-round lead in the weather-delayed Senior PGA Championship.
The gusting afternoon wind, which buffeted flags and shook hospitality tents across Oak Hill Country Club’s East Course, hadn’t yet fully arrived when Parel closed with birdies on the par-4 17th and 18th holes. Parel also eagled the par-5 fourth, dropped a stroke on the par-4 seventh and birdied the par-5 13th.
Marco Dawson, Retief Goosen and Ken Tanigawa were a shot back in second, and Darren Clarke, Jeff Maggert and Jesper Parnevik were another stroke behind in fifth after the round was completed just before 9 p.m., about a halfhour after the sun set and 14 hours after the first group teed off.
The long day was the result of late-morning thunderstorms that caused a delay of 2 hours, 15 minutes, but it was undoubtedly all worth it for Ooltewah’s Gibby Gilbert III, who opened with a 69 and was part of an eight-man logjam in eighth. Gilbert, who started on No. 10, had birdies on the 11th and 13th before a bogey on the 15th and another on No. 1, then closed with another birdie on the 6,800-yard course that changed in complexion with the dramatic shifts in weather that rolled through suburban Rochester.
Honors Course club professional Henrik Simonsen is playing this PGA of America event for ages 50 and older for the first time. He opened with a 76 that had him tied for 95th.
The day began with temperatures in the mid-60s and hardly a whiff of a breeze. Though rain softened the usually fast greens in the afternoon, players faced 15 to 25 mph wind, with gusts up to 40. That played havoc on the narrow course with tiny greens and placed a premium on avoiding the rough.
Of the 15 players who finished under par, 12 came from the morning groups and just three from the afternoon. The morning groups combined to finish averaging a score of 73, with the average ballooning to nearly 76 among the afternoon players.
Spieth in position
FORT WORTH, Texas — If Jordan Spieth is going to end a victory drought that’s approaching two years, the threetime major winner picked a good place to give himself a chance.
Spieth opened with a 5-under 65 in the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in his second Texas homecoming in three weeks and trailed Tony Finau by one shot. Roger Sloan joined Spieth in the tie for second.
Back when he was collecting trophies regularly three years ago, Spieth won on the cozy course made famous by Ben Hogan, and that was between a pair of second-place finishes in Fort Worth. So when it comes to feeling good about his game, Spieth’s in the right place, just a few miles from his hometown of Dallas.
But the former Texas Longhorn didn’t necessarily have to be here, four days after tying for third at the PGA Championship for his first top-20 result this season.
“I didn’t put it above or below any other week,” said Spieth, whose last victory was the 2017 British Open. “I know my game has been progressing. I’ve been saying that for the last month or six weeks or so.”
Nine players were tied for fourth at 67.
Pure Silk knotted
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Bronte Law chipped in for an eagle on the par-5 third hole and shot a 6-under 65 for a share of the first-round lead with Anna Nordqvist and Jennifer Song in the LPGA Tour’s Pure Silk Championship.
England’s Law added a birdie on the par-4 seventh — the 24-year-old’s 16th hole in a bogey-free round at windy Kingsmill Resort.
Song, a 29-year-old dual citizen in South Korea and the United States, birdied all three par 5s in her bogeyfree round in the final event before the U.S. Women’s Open next week at the Country Club of Charleston in South Carolina.
Sweden’s Nordqvist, 31, rallied after making a bogey on No. 3. She had birdies on Nos. 7, 9 and 10 and 13 through 16.
Five golfers were tied for second, with Jacqui Concolino, Gemma Dryburgh, Brooke Henderson, Katherine Perry and Jasmine Suwannapura a stroke behind the co-leaders but one ahead of Angel Yin.
Wallace starts well
FARSO, Denmark — Coming off his best finish at a major, Matt Wallace shot a 4-under 67 and was one stroke off the first-round lead as he tries to repeat as champion at the European Tour’s Made In Denmark tournament.
Spain’s Alejandro Canizares, Italy’s Edoardo Molinari and England’s Tom Murray, Matthew Southgate and Paul Waring shared the lead after each opened with a 66 at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort.
Wallace was part of a five-way for sixth place after maintaining the form he showed while finishing third Sunday in the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black. The 29-year-old Englishman also tied for second two weeks ago at the British Masters.