Malnati takes 1-shot lead in Bermuda event

SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Peter Malnati saw his infant son at a PGA Tour event for the first time since the pandemic, which brought a smile to his face and another birdie on his card for an 8-under 63 and a one-shot lead Thursday in the Bermuda Championship.

The tournament is the first to allow limited fans — no more than 500 a day at Port Royal — since the opening round of The Players Championship on March 12.

The final birdie was the ninth of the round for Malnati, who has gone from the South to the West to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and keeps playing some of his best golf.

It was the third time in his last three events he posted a 63 or lower.

Malnati was runner-up at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi and followed that with a tie for fifth in Las Vegas.

This round gave him a one-shot lead over Ryan Armour and Doug Ghim, who birdied his last two holes.

The Bermuda Championship matches the weakest field of the year on the PGA

Tour, though it receives full status this year because the HSBC Champions in Shanghai was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning Bermuda is not the same week as a World Golf Championship. The winner receives an invitation to the Masters next year.

It also is the start of consecutive PGA Tour events allowing limited fans. The Houston Open has said it will sell no more than 2,000 ticket a day.

The Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, the first event on 2021, also announced this week it would limited fans.

Doc Redman, Vaughn Taylor and Chase Seiffert were at 65, while Hunter Mahan was in the group at

66. It was Mahan’s lowest opening round in more than two years.

Three-time major champion and Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington opened with a 67.

Harrington won at Port Royal in 2013 in the final stages of the course hosting the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.

Fred Funk, the 64-yearold regular on the PGA Tour Championship, shot

69. He played in the same group as his son, Taylor Funk, who shot a 73.