Charley Hoffman carded a bogey-free 65 to claim a one-shot lead after the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge.
The 47-year-old American made the best of the blustery conditions at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, birdieing two of his first three holes to get off to a strong start.
He added further birdies at the eighth, 11th and 13th to top the leaderboard ahead of compatriots Davis Riley, Brian Harman and Tony Finau, Scotland’s Martin Laird and South Korea’s SH Kim.
Scottie Scheffler, meanwhile, struggled to make an impact, finishing seven behind Hoffman with a two-over-par 72, his first opening round over par of the season. He also recorded his first triple-bogey of the year after finding water off the tee on the par-three 13th.
The world No 1 had played 41 consecutive rounds no worse than par before the third round of last week’s PGA Championship, the day after he was arrested on his way to the course for not following police orders following an earlier unrelated fatal collision.
Laird and Open champion Harman were also, like Hoffman, bogey free, while England’s Callum Tarren is among those a shot further back on three under as Justin Rose opened with a level-par 70.
“I saw the scores out there not going too low, I knew I didn’t have to be too aggressive,” Hoffman said.
“I knew the greens were firm, wind started picking up in the middle of the round. I would say it was somewhat an easy five under, which are nice, they’re not always that way, but it was low-stress.”
Hoffman has four PGA Tour victories on his career resume, but none since April 2016.
England’s Bland shares lead on senior major championship debut
England’s Richard Bland took a break from LIV Golf to make a positive start to his senior major championship debut at the Senior PGA Championship, carding a seven-under 64 to share the lead with Australia’s Richard Green.
Green set the pace in the morning, posting three birdies and an eagle, and Bland had a chance to go ahead in the afternoon but had to scramble for a par on the eighth hole after a wayward tee shot, and failed to birdie the par-five ninth for the lead.
The PGA of America offers a one-time exemption to anyone who has won on the DP World Tour over the last five years; Bland became a first-time winner at the 2021 British Masters at the age of 48.
The Englishman could not take the exemption last year because the Senior PGA was the same week as LIV Golf Bedminster in New Jersey.
“I’m very grateful for the invite and hopefully I can do something with it,” Bland said.
Bland and Green are two shots clear of a group that includes defending champion Steve Stricker.
