Harry Hole, a PGA Tour rookie from England, needed just 22 strokes, the last of which was an 8-foot birdie, for the eight-under 62, giving him a three-shot lead over Harris English in challenging Charles Schwab on the PGA Tour on Thursday. In Fort Worth, Texas.
Together with his eight birdies, Hall made two putts 15 to 30 feet apart at Colonial.
Tom Hogg, who played golf in college at UCLA and now makes Fort Worth his home, ducks for an eagle from the seventh fairway on his way to the 66.
Scotty Scheffler, who returned to No. 1 in the world with a tie for second at the PGA Championship, and defending champion Sam Burns were in the big group at 67. Jordan Spieth didn’t make his only birdie until the eighth hole and opened with a 72.
Hall changed up his routine this week by playing 36 practice holes at Colonial – pro Monday and then nine holes on Tuesday and Wednesday. This helps, along with his putter.
“Maybe that’s the key, just to see a little bit more of the track than I’ve done in the past,” said Hall. “I didn’t do things much different. I just kind of made things simpler.”
He missed seven of the greens and played those holes on the 1-under, the biggest chip in a birdie from about 80 feet on the 12th hole.
“I was really in the moment and determined to play some good golf,” said Hall. “7 out of 7 scrambles doesn’t really surprise me because that’s the best part of my game, but the way I hit the ball in the first two thirds of that round was very special.”
Hogg, who grew up in North Dakota, is so excited about horned frogs that he flew from Maui to Los Angeles to watch TCU in the College Football Playoff Champions (big loss to Georgia) and then back to Hawaii for the Sony Open. .
He got off to a good start until his tour came to a halt. He came to life at No. 6 when his approach settled within inches of the cup. Then on the seventh, he hit an iron 8 of 157 yards straight into the trophy for an eagle.
It’s just the start he needed after he missed the cut at the last Colonial three times.
“The last few years I’ve really struggled on Thursday and then kind of struggled on Friday to try to make the cut,” Haughey said. “The focus has definitely been this year to try to get off to a good start, try to be a little patient and let the Tour come to me. Making some birdies right off the bat was really nice.”
Information from the Associated Press is used in this report.