Seamus Power had to remain patient in round one of the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial but managed to chisel out a round of 69.
After playing the course from back to front, Power bogeyed the 17th and had to wait until the 7th for his first birdie of the day. But he finished off his round nicely with a closing birdie at the 9th to share 57th place on one-under and he is five shots behind Ryan Gerard, Andrew Putnam, Tom Kim, JJ Spaun, Matt McCarty and Lee Hodges.
The two-time PGA Tour winner has rarely fared well at Colonial where he was 59th last year in his first appearance since 2019.
A top-20 finish last week pushed him back into the all important top-100 in the FedEx Cup and he occupies the coveted 100th spot on the rankings as he looks to win back his full playing privileges on the PGA Tour for next season.
At the summit, the six-way tie for the lead ended a day of drama that saw round one partially suspended due to inclement weather while Brandt Snedeker also had a hole in one.
Kim and co sit one shot clear of twelve players after rounds of 64 while Hodges had to wait for two hours during the weather delay before finishing his round.
It’s the second-most leaders after 18 holes at Colonial behind the eight atop the leaderboard in 2022.
“It’s one of my favorite courses we play all year because I don’t think there’s any one person that it caters to,” Hodges said. “You don’t have to bomb it. You’ve got to have your whole game here. I think it’s a great test of golf.”
Gerard made all 17 of his putts inside 15 feet, finishing with eight birdies and two bogeys. Putnam’s bogey-free round included four birdies over his final eight holes, which were on the front nine.
“It was nice to get a couple putts to go in,” said Gerard, whose only TOUR victory came at last year’s Barracuda Championship, seven years after Putnam’s only TOUR win at the same event. “I know the stats are probably going to lean more putting, but I’ve been hitting my driver really well.”
Leave a comment