Hoffman leads at Colonial, Scheffler shoots 72, Bhatia trails

Fort Worth [US], May 24 : It was a day when many of the favourite stars were struggling with the renovated Colonial Country Club at the Charles Schwab Challenge. On such a day, Scottie Scheffler's failure to break par in an opening round for the first time in 2024, was also the talk. He shot 2-over 73 and was T-79 and needed a good round to ensure that he made the cut.

Charley Hoffman posted a 5-under 65 for a one-shot lead over five players who all had a big advantage of playing in the morning. Hoffman dealt with the wind that gusted in the 20 mph range.

The five chasing Hoffman were Martin Laird of Scotland, Korean KH Kim and Americans Brian Harman, Tony Finau and Davis Riley, a release said.

The greens were firm and bouncy and the wind added to the difficulty. Only 45 players from the 132-man field broke par. Max Homa failed to make a birdie and posted a 78, his highest score at a non-major since the Memorial presented by Workday four years ago.

Indian-American Akshay Bhatia shot 3-over 73 and was T-98.

Hoffman was bogey-free, as were Harman and Martin Laird who played bogey-free in the morning for their 66s. Later they were joined by Finau, Kim and Riley.

Collin Morikawa, who played in the final group at the Masters and the PGA Championship this year, was among those who opened with 68.

Scheffler opened with a pair of birdies through four holes but then slipped. His 2-over 72 on Thursday was the second time in his last three rounds he was over par and included his first triple bogey of the year. Before that, he had played 41 consecutive rounds at par or better.

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