Golf roundup: Rahm, Thomas share lead in FedEx Cup playoff opener - pressherald.com

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Jon Rahm watches his shot off the 10th tee in the first round of the Northern Trust on Thursday in Jersey City, N.J. John Minchillo/Associated Press

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Jon Rahm returned from a month off and played like he was never gone. Justin Thomas took the advice of a 15-year-old and had his lowest score of the year.

Both opened with an 8-under 63 on Thursday at The Northern Trust as the PGA Tour’s postseason began with no shortage of bizarre developments.

Rahm, who missed his chance at the Olympics because of what amounts to a false positive test result for COVID-19, expected a little rust in his game. It just didn’t show on his card. He chipped in for birdie, saved par on the next two holes and was on his way.

Thomas had benched his putter for bad behavior after he spent too much of the year not seeing putts go in the hole. But during his junior event last week, a teenager asked why he wasn’t using his old putter.

“And I found myself defending myself to this 15-year-old,” he said. “I was like, ‘Why am I not using this thing?’ It’s not like I’m making a lot of putts with what I have. If you’re putting well, any of us can go out and putt with anything.”

He didn’t hole all of them, but enough to record nine birdies for his lowest round since a 62 last November in Mexico.

Bryson DeChambeau also made nine birdies. He was eight shots behind. His round of 71 was noteworthy because of the pars he made on No. 4 and No. 10. Those were the only pars he made all day. The nine birdies were offset by five bogeys and two double bogeys.

It was the first time in 10 years someone shot par or better with two pars or fewer.

• Patrick Reed withdrew because of an ankle injury, missing the first of two events remaining before the end of Ryder Cup qualifying. The PGA Tour did not receive details on the nature of the injury.

Reed is No. 22 in the FedEx Cup standings and already assured of being in the field for the second playoff event next week outside Baltimore. But with the points tripled in value for the postseason, reaching the Tour Championship becomes a little more difficult.

Of more immediate concern is the Ryder Cup. The top six automatically qualify after the BMW Championship next week. Reed is No. 9 in the U.S. standings. Six more players will be captain’s picks after the Tour Championship.

Nelly Korda acknowledges the crowd after completing her opening round Thursday at the Women’s British Open in Carnoustie, Scotland. Scott Heppell/Associated Press

LPGA: Nelly Korda’s sensational summer form is showing no sign of dipping.

Two weeks after winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, the top-ranked Korda began her bid for a second major title in two months by shooting 5-under 67 to share the first-round lead at the Women’s British Open in Carnoustie, Scotland.

Korda rolled in a 5-foot putt at No. 18 for her eighth birdie of a round that also contained three bogeys in overcast, chilly but largely wind-free conditions over the Carnoustie links in eastern Scotland. She was later joined by Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom, who has never recorded a top-10 finish at a major, and South Korea’s Sei Young Kim, a major champion last year and the No. 4 player in the world.

Korda, 23, is the new star of women’s golf, having climbed to No. 1 by winning the PGA Championship in June and following that up by winning the Olympic golf tournament in Tokyo this month. The American has four wins in 14 events in 2021 and said she has a “target on my back” in Scotland for the last of this year’s five majors.

“You kind of strive to be in this position, so it feels good,” she said.

Korda, who wore bulky, oven-style mitts between shots at times during the morning, rebounded from her second bogey of the day, at No. 12, by making a downhill putt for birdie at the next and picked up another shot at the par-5 14th after reaching the green in two. She finished birdie-birdie by hitting her approach close at No. 18 with an 8-iron from the center of the fairway.

EUROPEAN TOUR: Former British Open champion Henrik Stenson and Maverick Antcliff both shot a 5-under 67 to share the lead after the opening round of the Czech Masters in Vysoky Ujezd, Czech Republic.

Stenson eagled the par-5 ninth hole and added three birdies for a flawless round to impress Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington, who was playing alongside the Swede.

Australia’s Antcliff, seeking his first European Tour title, finished with six birdies and a bogey.

Nine players were one shot back tied for third.

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