Miami (AFP) – Scottie Scheffler, chasing a third straight Hero World Challenge title, had seven birdies before a closing bogey to post a six-under-par 66 on Thursday to join a five-way tie for the first-round lead at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas. World number one Scheffler had four birdies on the front nine and added a trio at 13, 14, and 15 to seize a one-shot lead, but he missed the green at the par-four 18th and then fired over the putting surface on the way to his closing bogey. He dropped into a tie with US Open champion J.J. Spaun, former US Open winner Wyndham Clark, Akshay Bhatia, and Sepp Straka. All were one stroke in front of US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and Canadian Corey Conners, who were tied on 67.
“I feel pretty good,” said Scheffler, who is teeing it up for the first time since the United States fell to Europe in the Ryder Cup in September. “I think there’s always going to be some rust in there, but I don’t really think about that when I’m out there playing. I’m just trying to shoot a good score.”
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Spaun also had seven birdies before a closing bogey, Clark had an eagle and six birdies with two bogeys. Bhatia holed out from a greenside bunker for an eagle two at the par-four seventh and added four birdies without a bogey. Bhatia was playing his first round with Max Homa’s former caddie, Joe Greiner, on his bag. The American left-hander said he could already see the advantages of having a lefty caddie.
“I think certain golf courses, certain shots, certain cues that we have, he really understands that,” Bhatia said. “I think from the majority of lefties that I’ve met — Phil (Mickelson), Bubba (Watson), myself — very creative. I think lefty has something to do with that. It’s an exciting thing for me for someone to see a shot the way I do.”
Straka also opened bogey-free, with his six birdies including back-to-back birdies at the 17th and 18th to grab his share of the lead. “I haven’t played in a while,” said Straka, who is using the unofficial 20-man event hosted by Tiger Woods to get back into the swing of competition. “Driver was a bit erratic out there at times, but got a few breaks off the tee and the iron game and putting were pretty good. Chipping was really good today, too, so nice to kind of post a good score,” he added.
Woods is not playing in the tournament, saying Tuesday that his recovery from his latest back surgery is “not as fast as I’d like it to be.”
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