European Tour:
Davis Love III can still get some solid work done in a PGA Tour event.
Heading into the World Golf Hall of Fame in September, the 53-year-old Love shot a 7-under 63 on Thursday in The Greenbrier Classic, leaving him two strokes behind first-round leader Sebastian Munoz.
Love is looking for his first win since the 2015 Wyndham Championship, which made him the third-oldest winner in PGA Tour history. He would be the oldest if he wins in White Sulpher Springs, W.Va.
Slowed this year by a bad back and a broken collarbone sustained in a January snowboarding accident, Love took advantage of a course softened by overnight rain for his best round of the season. He birdied four of his first five holes in the morning round on Old White, the course that was reconstructed after deadly floods forced the cancellation of last year’s tournament.
“I’ve been working real hard the last couple of weeks on trying to fix my swing to kind of swing around a stiff back and a stiff hip,” Love said. “I’ve given up on hitting it a long way. I’m just saying I’ve got to hit it straight, and this is the perfect golf course for me to get it in the fairway.”
Munoz, a 24-year-old Colombian, was boosted by five birdies on the back nine for a 61. Defending champion Danny Lee was at 64 along with David Lingmerth, Ben Martin, Xander Schauffele, and Canadians Graham DeLaet and Nick Taylor.
Phil Mickelson shot 67 in his first round since parting with his caddie of 25 years, Jim “Bones” Mackay. Mickelson’s brother, Tim, is his caddie for the rest of the year.
Players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairway because of the wet conditions.
Rising Spanish star Jon Rahm upstaged tournament host Rory McIlroy at the Irish Open by shooting a 7-under 65 to move one stroke off the first-round lead.
Rahm, ranked No. 11, showed impressive form on the links two weeks out from the British Open, rolling in six birdies and an eagle on a low-scoring day at Portstewart, Northern Ireland. He was tied for third place with Englishmen Matthew Southgate and Oliver Fisher.
American Daniel Im, ranked No. 542, and Benjamin Hebert of France, ranked No. 254, held the lead after shooting bogey-free 64s.
McIlroy, the defending champion and part of a heavyweight group containing Rahm and Hideki Matsuyama, parred his last 11 holes and was even par at a tournament that benefits his own foundation. The No. 2-ranked Matsuyama shot 67.
Rookie Laura Gonzalez Escallon birdied three of the final four holes for a 7-under 65 and a share of the lead with Sei Young Kim in the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic at Oneida, Wis.
LPGA Tour: