The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Varner overcomes bogey to tie for lead at TPC Scottsdale
Harold Varner III overcame an early bogey with three straight birdies, moving himself in position to tie for the lead.
He got it with a long putt and a dab on the loudest hole in golf.
Varner snaked in a long birdie putt on the par-3 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale on Thursday, capping off a 7-under 64 to tie Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas for the first-round lead at the Phoenix Open.
Varner set off the rowdiest roars of the afternoon with his 31-foot putt at the hole turned into a stadium, celebrating with the dab toward the sky.
“I love entertaining people and what better hole to do it,” Varner said.
Playing in pristine con- ditions before storms are expected to hit this weekend, Fowler and Thomas made their way around the desert layout without finding much trouble.
Martin Laird and J.T. Poston were a shot back at 65 and four players shot 66, including two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson. Another 16 players shot 67 on a day when 70 players were under par.
Among them was Oklahoma State sophomore Matthew Wolff, who overcame some early nerves in his first PGA Tour start. The 19-year-old had a bogey on his second hole, the par-4 11th, but closed with five birdies to open three shots out of the lead.
Defending champion Gary Woodland and Phil Mickelson each shot 68.
Thomas opened 2019 with a third-place finish at the Sen- try Tournament of Cham- pions and was tied for 16th at the Sony Open with four rounds in the 60s.
Playing in near-perfect con- ditions in the morning, the 2017 PGA Championship winner started on the back nine and went out in 2-under 34 with birdies on Nos. 15 and 18. Thomas’ 9-foot putt on 18 began a string of six birdies in seven holes, including five on putts inside of 5 feet to shoot a 5-under 30 on the front nine.
European Tour: Thomas Pieters shot 7-under 63 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round at the Saudi International, a new European Tour event being held amid scrutiny of the kingdom’s human-rights record and condemnation following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Pieters made seven birdies and was bogey-free around the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, where the world’s top three players — Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka, and Dustin Johnson — are playing.