Golf gets back on course at Colonial
Rose, Varner share the lead at 63. Event comes to a standstill to honor Floyd.
FORT WORTH — The start was even more quiet than usual for a Thursday morning on the PGA Tour, only the silence never left over the next 12 hours as golf was back to business at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Sung Kang made a hole in one on the 13th hole and didn’t realize it until he was 50 yards from the green.
“I’m like, ‘Wow, it’s in the hole.’ It wasn’t really crazy. Nobody was really up there, only a few people out there just clapping a little bit,” Kang said. “I still appreciated it, though.”
Phil Mickelson made a birdie and instinctively pinched the brim of his cap to acknowledge a crowd that wasn’t there.
Quiet as it was, Colonial came to a standstill at 8:46 a.m. when everyone on the course honored a moment of silence for the death of George Floyd and the outrage it has sparked worldwide on racial injustice.
It was a most unusual round of golf. But it was golf.
“I think just being out here is successful, to be honest with you, getting started,” Ryan Palmer said. “I don’t see anything holding us back moving forward. I think today was the biggest day, just getting this first day off. People are going to watch golf back home and be interested to watch it tomorrow, and that’s a great thing.”
Justin Rose and Harold Varner shared the lead at seven-under-par 63, with Justin Thomas among those a stroke back. Tom Lehman, a 61-year-old former champion at Colonial, got in on the act with a 65.
Conditions were ripe for good scores with no cheers.
“It kind of feels like a competitive practice round,” said Rose, who won at Colonial two years ago. “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 especially, the field is incredible. Obviously, we miss the fans. They definitely provide a ton of energy and atmosphere.”
Varner is one of four players of Black heritage with full PGA Tour status, and he delivered strong words last week in a social media post. He also sat down with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan for a 10-minute video on what golf can do.
And then he found himself sharing the lead after a round so clean he putted for birdie on every hole.
“If I’m thinking about winning a golf tournament right now, I’ve probably lost it,” Varner said. “Yeah, I know what’s going on, but when I’m on the golf course, I’m trying to play well.”