American Ryan Palmer took advantage of ideal scoring conditions and local knowledge with a birdie fest as he charged into a one-shot lead in Thursday’s opening round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas.
The 36-year-old Texan piled up eight birdies on
the way to a flawless eight-under-par 62 on a relatively calm morning at
iconic Colonial Country Club, matching the lowest first round ever
recorded at the long established PGA Tour event.
Palmer, who began his round at the par-four 10th
and ended it with a five-foot birdie putt at the par-four ninth, surged
to the top of the leaderboard, a stroke in front of compatriot John
Rollins.
Morgan Hoffmann, a PGA Tour rookie who tied for
fifth at last week’s Byron Nelson Championship, carded a 64 to finish
the day level with fellow American John Peterson and Canadians David
Hearn and Graham DeLaet.
“I drove it almost perfect today,” Colonial club
member Palmer told Golf Channel after matching the 62s previously posted
in the tournament’s opening round by Patrick Sheehan (in 2005), David
Toms (2011) and Chez Reavie (2011).
“I hit the driver really well and when I got out
of position, I hit some good shots. If you’re going to hit driver a lot,
you’d better hit it straight and on a lot of these holes I was able to
do that today.
“When I hit it within five or six feet, I made the
putt. I had a great day of putting and drove it really good.”Palmer, a
three-times winner on the PGA Tour whose most recent victory came at the
2010 Sony Open in Hawaii, kick-started his round at the par-four 14th
with the first of four consecutive birdies.
“I made about a 15, 20-footer on 14 which got me
going and then I hit it close coming in,” he said after making five of
his eight birdies from no more than seven feet.
“Then I made some good birdies on the front nine,
my back nine. It’s a golf course that I am just comfortable on,” added
Palmer, whose caddie James Edmondson is a three-times club champion at
Colonial. “James and I play here numerous times.”
World number 13 Matt Kuchar, the highest-ranked
player in this week’s field, opened with a 65 to end the round level
with fellow Americans Daniel Summerhays, Matt Every, Tommy Gainey, Josh
Teater and Jordan Spieth.
Zach Johnson, who beat fellow American Jason
Dufner by one shot to clinch last year’s Crowne Plaza Invitational,
launched his title defence with a 69 while Dufner returned a six-birdie
67. (AFP)
