Charley Hoffman carded a bogey-free 65 to assert a one-shot lead after the primary spherical of the Charles Schwab Problem.
The 47-year-old American made the very best of the blustery circumstances at Colonial Nation Membership in Fort Price, birdieing two of his first three holes to get off to a robust begin.
He added additional birdies on the eighth, eleventh and thirteenth to prime the leaderboard forward of compatriots Davis Riley, Brian Harman and Tony Finau, Scotland’s Martin Laird and South Korea’s SH Kim.
Scottie Scheffler, in the meantime, struggled to make an influence, ending seven behind Hoffman with a two-over-par 72, his first opening spherical over par of the season. He additionally recorded his first triple-bogey of the 12 months after discovering water off the tee on the par-three thirteenth.
The world No 1 had performed 41 consecutive rounds no worse than par earlier than the third spherical of final week’s PGA Championship, the day after he was arrested on his technique to the course for not following police orders following an earlier unrelated deadly collision.
Laird and Open champion Harman had been additionally, like Hoffman, bogey free, whereas England’s Callum Tarren is amongst these a shot additional again on three below as Justin Rose opened with a level-par 70.
“I saw the scores out there not going too low, I knew I didn’t have to be too aggressive,” Hoffman stated.
“I knew the greens were firm, wind started picking up in the middle of the round. I would say it was somewhat an easy five under, which are nice, they’re not always that way, but it was low-stress.”
Hoffman has 4 PGA Tour victories on his profession resume, however none since April 2016.
England’s Bland shares lead on senior main championship debut
Richard Bland is making his debut at a senior main championship this week
England’s Richard Bland took a break from LIV Golf to make a optimistic begin to his senior main championship debut on the Senior PGA Championship, carding a seven-under 64 to share the lead with Australia’s Richard Inexperienced.
Inexperienced set the tempo within the morning, posting three birdies and an eagle, and Bland had an opportunity to go forward within the afternoon however needed to scramble for a par on the eighth gap after a wayward tee shot, and didn’t birdie the par-five ninth for the lead.
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The PGA of America affords a one-time exemption to anybody who has received on the DP World Tour over the past 5 years; Bland grew to become a first-time winner on the 2021 British Masters on the age of 48.
The Englishman couldn’t take the exemption final 12 months as a result of the Senior PGA was the identical week as LIV Golf Bedminster in New Jersey.
“I’m very grateful for the invite and hopefully I can do something with it,” Bland stated.
Bland and Inexperienced are two pictures away from a gaggle that features defending champion Steve Stricker.
Proceed to observe the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Problem stay on Sky Sports activities Golf on Friday from 5pm
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