Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn took the lead Friday at the Invitational Celebrity Classic in Irving, Texas, with a bogey-free 64 and seven birdies.
Bjorn holds a one-shot lead over four Las Colinas Country Club players.
The group that hit 65 included Jerry Kelly, Clark Dennis, England’s Paul Broadhurst, and South Korea’s Ye Yang.
Bjorn had four birdies on the front nine and three birdies on the back in his first tournament since playing in Morocco in late February.
“Yeah, I was really a little surprised. I hadn’t played any tournament golf since Morocco, so it’s been a while,” Bjorn said. “I really didn’t know where I was coming out here. I felt really good in practice. I went out, got some early birdies to calm everything down and just played golf.”
But the weekend doesn’t end with just one good round. Bjorn finished second in Morocco and hopes to finish one spot higher at the Dallas area meet.
“You tee it up to win a golf tournament, so you want to have that mindset,” Bjorn said. “That’s why all the players here want to be in the competition. The only thing you can do on the first day or the first few days is play yourself from there. Go in there with a chance. Must”
“There are still some things we need to iron out, but the scores were very good so obviously we are very positive.”
Broadhurst started on the back nine and made four birdies and two bogeys in the first nine holes. He then birdied No. 3 and added three consecutive birdies from No. 5 to No. 7 to complete a round of eight birdies.
Broadhurst knew Saturday’s weather forecast was not favorable and wanted to be at the top of the leaderboard in case the tournament was shortened.
“It was important to get off to a good start because it could end up being 36 holes,” Broadhurst said. “I don’t know, but we’ll have to see what tomorrow brings. The weather forecast doesn’t look very good, but yeah, we’ll see. I’ve been in this position for a long time.” But I haven’t been able to take advantage of that, so it’s important to continue doing this now. ”
Kelly had seven birdies in the final 11 holes. He bogeyed the 13th, his fourth hole of the day, but then settled down.
“It was nice to get the adrenaline going, but the adrenaline was making me jump all over the place. It was awesome. I loved the adrenaline,” Kelly said. “Once I buttoned it up and started taking advantage of it, I knew I was going to play well, and that’s what happened.”
Yang had nine birdies and three bogeys, while Dennis had a bogey on No. 2 and then had seven birdies in his final 10 holes.
In the celebrity competition, 2022 champion and former tennis pro Mardy Fish leads Stableford’s scoring system with a plus-37. World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstrum was second with a +35.
—Field Level Media