Ian Poulter on Thursday holed a 30-foot birdie putt and followed with a five iron to 4 feet for a birdie that closed out his round of seven-under 64, giving him a share of the lead with Mark Hubbard at Hilton Head.
“I’ve always loved coming here to play golf,” said Poulter, who has plenty of company this year.
The RBC Heritage, typically a week after the Masters in April, is the second tournament since the PGA Tour returned after a 90-day hiatus amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: AFP
The top three players in the world are at Hilton Head — Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas — and none broke par on a day in which 66 players in the 151-man field shot in the 60s.
A year ago, only 38 players in the 132-man field opened with rounds in the 60s.
Spieth would not have guessed that he would be one of them after a tee shot that was 5 yards right of the 12th fairway hit a tree and did not stop rolling until it was out-of-bounds. He made triple bogey and was three-over-par through three holes.
“All of a sudden, I’m three-over through three, and you start to see guys going two-under through two, two-under through three early,” Spieth said. “It’s not a great feeling.”
Determined to at least try to get under par for his round, Spieth had a career-best six straight birdies on his back nine and finished with seven birdies over his last eight holes for a 66.
Poulter and Hubbard, who started birdie-eagle, were a shot ahead of a group that included Webb Simpson, Ryan Palmer and Viktor Hovland, Colonial winner Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka, Ernie Els and that incredible bulk, Bryson DeChambeau, were in the large group at 67.
DeChambeau, who added some 40 pounds of mass to increase his swing speed, was earlier in the week hammering shots over the range during practice. He had to tone it down on the tight, tree-lined Harbour Town.
“I couldn’t unleash the Kraken today,” DeChambeau said, a student of physics and Scandinavian folklore. “The wind was swirling all day, and I couldn’t feel comfortable to give it a good whack.”
Dustin Johnson was poised to make a move until hit into the water on the par-three 14th hole and compounding the error with a three-putt triple bogey. He still managed a 68.
Taiwan’s Pan Cheng-tsung, with a three-under-par first round, tied with 16 players for 28th place.
It was the first PGA Tour with spectators on the property, just not on the golf course with tickets.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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