Bryan, Gribble share lead at Honda

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. One reason Martin Kaymer enjoys the Honda Classic is because he doesn’t feel as though he has to make a bunch of birdies.

On such a serene Thursday at PGA National, that was required to keep pace.

A pair of PGA Tour rookies who last played this course at Q-school for the Web.com Tour, Cody Gribble and Wesley Bryan, each opened with a 6-under 64 in the morning and it stood the rest of the day. The wind never really materialized. The greens remained soft from a big rain the day before.

More than half of the field was at par or better.

Kaymer, a two-time major champion from Germany playing on a sponsor exemption, chipped in from behind the 17th green for birdie and closed with a two-putt birdie from 40 feet for a 65. He was one shot behind, along with Anirban Lahiri of India.

“I felt very calm over the ball,” Kaymer said. “I enjoy the golf course. When you stand on the first tee, you don’t feel like you need to make five or six birdies. It’s a ballstriking golf course, but even level par or 1-over par is a very good round.

“It was very soft and there was not much wind,” he said. “Once you miss the fairway, it was actually OK from the rough because the greens are soft. I’ve not played the golf course in easier conditions.”

Rickie Fowler and Ian Poulter found it the same way. They were part of a large group at 66. Sergio Garcia was headed in that direction until he pulled his tee shot left on the par-3 fifth hole and made double bogey, added a pair of other bogeys and recovered with a birdie on his final hole for a 68. He was in the group with defending champion Adam Scott.

“If the weather stays good and it’s able to dry out, I don’t see the golf course getting any easier,” Fowler said.

It was an important start for Poulter, who is playing on a medical extension from a foot injury last year and has only six PGA Tour events left to earn either $220,301 or 154 FedEx Cup points to retain his full status.

“I’m on borrowed time,” said Poulter, who has slipped to No. 206 in the world. “A win would be nice. I have to think that I’ve got a chance, I really do. The situation I’m in, I have to be aggressive, but I’ve got to be careful. I can’t make many mistakes.”

LPGA Tour

PATTAYA, Thailand - Ariya Jutanugarn and Amy Yang both shot 6under 66 in the first round Thursday to take a share of the lead at the LPGA Thailand.

Jutanugarn, a Thai ranked second in the world, had six birdies while Yang, the 2015 champion, had seven birdies and a bogey at the Siam Country Club Pattaya Old Course.

European/Sunshine Tours

JOHANNESBURG - American golfer Paul Peterson birdied four of his last five holes to shoot a bogeyfree 9-under 62 before play was suspended because of a wet course in the first round of the Joburg Open.