Justin Rose, Harold Varner co-leaders on Day 1 at Colonial as golfers knock off rust
Justin Rose didn’t show much rust. Neither did Harold Varner III.
The PGA Tour restarted its season with the opening round of the Charles Schwab Challenge on Thursday, following a three-month break amid the coronavirus pandemic, and the golf had a familiar feel to it.
Some players were hot. Some were not. There were great shots, such as Sung Kang acing No. 13, and poor shots, such as Kang three-putting No. 2.
But Rose and Varner appeared in mid-season form. Both posted bogey-free 63s. Those two are the co-leaders after Day 1 followed by four players carding 64s with Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Abraham Ancer and Jhonattan Vegas.
“When I’m playing golf out here, man, it’s just fun,” Varner said. “I love playing golf. I work my tail off to play and to get back in the ropes. I’m doing my job and I’m appreciative of that. Getting out there, the adrenaline is going, just that kind of stuff.”
Varner is a surprise to see atop the leader board. He’s played this tournament just one other time, missing the cut in 2017. Varner said he had a better game plan for the course this year.
Rose, meanwhile, has one of the best game plans of any of the 148 players. He won the 2018 tournament, highlighted by two rounds of 64, but Thursday was a career-best for Rose.
He worked his way around the golf course beautifully. He opened his round with a birdie on No. 10, rolling in a 26-footer, and went on to have six more birdies on the day.
Of course, getting off to a strong start — with birdies on three of his first four holes — also served as an early reminder to Rose and his playing partners the unique environment with no fans. No roars. No galleries. And, on the bright side, no heckling.
“I was kind of having a little fun with it, thanks, tipping the cap to the silence,” Rose said, smiling. “But to be fair, Dustin Johnson’s caddie kind of gave me a little round of applause there [on the first birdie]. So the guys were having a bit of fun with the unique environment that we were dealing with.”
The environment also featured plenty of rust from the world’s best.
Johnson, the No. 5-ranked player in the world, flubbed a 60-yard pitch shot into a bunker on No. 5, leading to a bogey. He finished his round 1-over.
No. 1-ranked Rory McIlroy needed four shots from 53 yards after a perfect drive on No. 6, carding a baffling bogey with a three-putt. But that was his only bogey on the day.
“I put myself in position to shoot a low score, I just didn’t capitalize on how I hit it off the tee,” McIlroy said. “My distance control on my wedges was a little off, and then the putting right there got a little difficult at the end of the day. Greens were sort of slow, and they got pretty bumpy at the end. Hopefully some better greens in the morning and hopefully shoot a lower score.”
The list goes on about players hoping to bounce back on Friday.
Defending champion Kevin Na carded three straight bogeys on Nos. 15-17 and is in jeopardy of missing the cut at 2-over. Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson are both at 3-over. Fowler bogeyed four of his last five holes, finding the water on his approach on No. 18. Simpson, the No. 9 player in the world, didn’t card one of the 528 birdies made on Thursday.
Plenty of golf remains, of course. McIlroy (2-under), Brooks Koepka (2-under), Jon Rahm (1-under) are among a number of players who could easily be in the mix come Sunday. And, as well as Rose and Varner played, it’s important to note that no player has been a wire-to-wire winner at Colonial since 1989 (Ian Baker-Finch).
“Obviously the first morning you’ve got good greens, we had no wind, so 63 — I’m not sure I’m going to get the golf course easier than that this week,” Rose said. “I could shoot 66 on a Saturday or Sunday in a bit more of a breeze playing the back end of the field, and it’s actually a better round of golf than today. So the score is always slightly subjective.
“The good thing is I feel like I didn’t max everything out today. I feel like it’s important to still be able to grow into the week and have areas of my game that can improve.”
This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 7:39 PM with the headline "Justin Rose, Harold Varner co-leaders on Day 1 at Colonial as golfers knock off rust."
