BOCA RATON — Parity is a big reason why the NFL has become one of the world’s most popular sports. It only seemed fitting a tournament combining professional football and professional golf would have a similar result.
At least after 18 holes.
Five players are tied for the lead at 4-under 68 after Friday’s first round of the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational at Broken Sound Club. And none of them are Americans.
Former Masters champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina, Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain, Alex Cejka of Germany, Thomas Bjorn of Denmark and David Bransdon of Australia share the lead after 18 holes on the testing Old Course.
The average score for the field was 73.3 and none of the 78 players had a bogey-free round on a hot, breezy day when the rounds lasted almost six hours. None of the five players who shot 68 had a 34 on either nine.
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“It was a tough day,” Bjorn said. “The course was set up pretty difficult. Really tough pin positions on a lot of holes.”
The low American was Jay Haas, who at 71 is the oldest player in the field. Haas had an early hole-in-one on the 12th hole – his sixth in competition and 19th overall – to help him better his age (69) for the 31st time on the PGA Tour Champions. He’s tied for sixth with Greg Chalmers of Australia.
“It’s one of the hardest holes on the course for me,” Haas said of the 12th. “To my eyes, it looks not friendly. When you make a hole-in-one from 190 yards, there’s a lot of luck involved. I can’t see that far anymore. People around the green went nuts. It was an exciting way to start the day.”
When asked if there’s a better feeling than a hole-in-one, Haas shook his head. Maybe that’s because the last of his 18 PGA Tour Champions victories came in 2016.
“Holding that trophy at the end of the week is a pretty good feeling,” Haas said. “I would trade all those hole-in-ones for another shot at a trophy.”
What makes this week’s competition unique is the team competition involving an NFL Hall of Famer and a PGA Tour Champions player.
Marshall Faulk-Jerry Kelly, Jerome Bettis-Paul Goydos tied for lead in best-ball format
The teams of Marshall Faulk-Jerry Kelly and Jerome Bettis-Paul Goydos were tied for the lead after 7-under 65s in the best-ball format. Faulk, as he did for most of his NFL career, dazzled with his talents, finishing with a tap-in birdie on his final hole.
Former Seattle receiver Steve Largent, who played in the same group with Faulk, said his highlight of the day was watching Faulk hit the ball.
“Just seeing him hit the ball as far as the pros were hitting it, and making incredible putts,” Largent said. “He says he’s some kind of handicap (he plays to a 5 handicap). But if he’s not a scratch golfer, I don’t know what one is. He really had his ‘A’ game today.”
Alas, Faulk won’t have a chance to win Saturday because he had a previous commitment and won’t play in the final round of the 36-hole competition. The teams of John Randle-Jimenez, Dwight Freeney-Tim Petrovic and Jan Stenerud-Freddie Jacobson are a shot back with 66s.
The PGA Tour Champions players have 36 holes remaining, which made Friday’s first round important. This is more like a 40-yard sprint.
“On this tour, it’s very much you got to get a start and be in there from the beginning,” Bjorn said. “Then you can do something on the weekend. It’s easy to play yourself out of it on the first day.”
Fan favorite John Daly shot a 2-over 74, failing to birdie any of the four par-5s.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Five players tied for lead after first round of James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational
Reporting by Craig Dolch / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
