Hoffmann is persevering
Takes lead after hearing of death of grandmother, 97
Morgan Hoffmann’s day began with news that his 97-year-old grandmother died Thursday morning. It ended with his first lead on the PGA Tour.
Hoffmann began his round with a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 10 and finished it with a 9-iron that touched the hole before stopping inches away for birdie. He also holed a bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 sixth, leading to a 6-under 66 and a one-shot lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida.
It all was a lot to chew on for the 25-year-old Hoffmann, who cooks his own meals to eat on the golf course (bison steak was for lunch Thursday).
“Mentally, I’m in kind of a weird state right now,” he said. “My grandma passed away this morning, so I’m just pretty chilled out there and loving life right now. Just wish my family the best at home. My whole family texted me and said, ‘Nanny is playing golf with pop up there,’ which was pretty cool.”
Hoffmann hopes to attend a memorial service for Dorothy Lionetti in Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday night. It should be a short trip considering Hoffmann pilots his own plane that he recently bought from his buddy David Booth, who plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
He was inspired to be a pilot after meeting with the tournament host during the Palmer Cup in 2009.
Hoffmann, clearly, is not the garden variety PGA Tour player.
“I have a lot of stuff you guys didn’t ask,” he said.
Not to be forgotten was his golf. He had a one-shot lead over five players, including Ian Poulter and Kevin Na. The group at 68 included Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson and Brandt Snedeker.
Top-ranked Lydia Ko n shot a 6-under 66 for a share of the lead in the suspended first round of the JTBC Founders Cup in Phoenix.
The 17-year-old Ko rebounded from a three-putt bogey on the seventh hole with a 12-foot birdie putt on the eighth to join Tiffany Joh, Sophia Popov and Kim Kaufman atop the leaderboard at Desert Ridge.
The start was delayed four hours because of rain and wet conditions. Only half of the 132 players finished before play was suspended.
Jesper Parnevik is n making his Champions Tour debut this week in the inaugural Tucson Conquistadores Classic.
“It’s funny because I had a press conference when I won the Scandinavian Masters in ‘95 and I said I was going to retire by the age of 40 for sure, and ‘If you see me on the Champions Tour, just slap me because that means things didn’t go the way I wanted,’” the Swede said. “But I have to admit I’m actually so happy to be here and I’ve been counting down the days.”
The five-time PGA Tour winner turned 50 on March 7.