Padraig Harrington tied for the lead after US Senior Open first round in Colorado
by The 42, https://www.thejournal.ie/author/the-42/ · TheJournal.ieThe 42
PADRAIG HARRINGTON SHARES the lead after the first round of the US Senior Open after his opening 67 leaving him at the top alongside Australian Mark Hensby.
Harrington, who won this tournament in 2022, finished three-under par at Broadmoor GC in Colorado Springs.
A blistering front nine paved the way for Harrington’s strong opening round, reaching the turn four-under. He picked up birdies on the par-four 2nd, the par-five 3rd, the par-four 6th, and the par-three 8th.
Heading to the 15th, Harrington remained at four-under, but sent his tee shot into the woods on that hole and had to head back to the tee box again. He crucially managed to limit the damage as he drained a 20-foot putt for bogey. and closed out from there for a round of 67.
“You never feel good after you’ve lost a ball, so your head is a little scrambled,” said Harrington.
“You’re just trying to get your head around what you’re doing. In general, you’re just keeping yourself in position, which I did nicely today.”
Joint leader Hensby was six-under after the favourable front nine as he registered seven birdies but mixed five bogeys with two birdies on his back nine.
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The leaders are a shot clear of seven players on two-under that include Thomas Bjorn, Stewart Cink, and Stephen Gallacher.
Harrington tees off for his second round at 3.13pm today (Irish time) alongside Justin Leonard and Cink.
*****
Aldrich Potgieter and Kevin Roy fired course-record 62s at Detroit Golf Club on Thursday to share the first-round lead in the US PGA Tour Rocket Classic.
Roy, a 35-year-old American chasing a first PGA Tour title, followed his eagle at the 17th with his eighth birdie of the day to be the first in the clubhouse on 10-under.
Less than 10 minutes later South Africa’s Potgieter put the finishing touches on a round that also included an eagle and eight birdies.
Potgieter and Roy both broke the previous course record of 63 — matched Thursday by Australian Min Woo Lee and Americans Max Greyserman and Mark Hubbard.
Seamus Power endured a disappointing opening round of one-over 73, a double-bogey on the par-three 9th proving a real setback as he three-putted from 13 feet.
Written by Fintan O’Toole and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.