FORT WORTH, Texas — Bryce Molder birdied six of his last nine holes for a 6-under 64 and a one-stroke lead Thursday after the first round of the Dean & Deluca Invitational at Colonial. ADVERTISING FORT WORTH, Texas — Bryce
FORT WORTH, Texas — Bryce Molder birdied six of his last nine holes for a 6-under 64 and a one-stroke lead Thursday after the first round of the Dean & Deluca Invitational at Colonial.
Molder was in the first group of the day off the 10th tee, and was on the 16th green when play was stopped for 75 minutes because of rain and lightning. He completed his seventh of nine consecutive pars when play resumed, then had all of those birdies on the front nine.
Patrick Reed, Anirban Lahiri and Webb Simpson shot 65.
Colonial member Ryan Palmer was among four player tied for fifth at 66. Jordan Spieth, the world’s No. 2 ranked player, had a 67 even after missing the first six fairways.
BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
VIRGINIA WATER, England — Masters champion Danny Willett got off to another fast start on the European Tour, shooting a 6-under 66 to finish a stroke behind the leaders in the BMW PGA Championship.
South Korea’s Y.E. Yang, Australia’s Scott Hend and the Dutchman Joost Luiten shared the lead in perfect conditions at the tour’s headquarters at Wentworth.
Willett, the only top-20 player in the world in the field, was the first-round leader at the Irish Open last week, but ended up losing to Rory McIlory.
Defending champion Byeong-Hun An of South Korea had a 72.
VOLVIK CHAMPIONSHIP
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Christina Kim took advantage of favorable morning conditions, shooting an 8-under 64 to top the leaderboard in the inaugural Volvik Championship.
Ariya Jutanugarn, coming off consecutive wins on the LPGA Tour, was a shot back after her morning round at Travis Pointe. The 20-year-old Jutanugarn is coming off a victory at the Kingsmill Championship after becoming the first Thai winner in tour history in Alabama.
Minjee Lee, So Yeon Ryu and Marina Alex shot 68.
Second-ranked Inbee Park’s lingering thumb injury led her to withdraw.
SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — Rocco Mediate played the first 13 holes in 9 under and closed with five pars for a 62 to match the Senior PGA Championship and Harbor Shore records.
Taking advantage of greens softened by overnight rain, Mediate matched the marks set by Kenny Perry in the 2012 final round. The 53-year-old Mediate capped a front-nine 29 with an eagle on the par-5 ninth and added birdies on the par-3 11th and 13th holes at Jack Nicklaus-designed Harbor Shores.
Gene Sauers had a bogey-free 63. Mike Goodes shot 64, and Kenny Perry, Kirk Triplett and club pro John DalCorobbo were another stroke back. Perry played alongside Mediate and two-time defending champion Colin Montgomerie, who had two late bogeys in a 67.
Bernhard Langer, fresh off the 100th victory of his career at the major Regions Tradition in Alabama, opened with a 69. The 58-year-old German is going for an unprecedented sweep of all five PGA Tour Champions majors.
John Daly shot a 75 in his second senior major start. He had a 9 on the par-4 16th.
