Tom Lewis and Harris English took a surprise lead in the first round of the Honda Classic on Thursday.
The Englishman and the American shot a 4-under-par 66 at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and have a one-shot lead over a five-player group, which includes Lee Westwood and Zach Johnson.
Notoriously one of the most difficult on the PGA Tour calendar, the Champions Course lived up to its reputation and the average score after the first round was 2-over-par.
On a day where wind caused havoc for a number of players as gusts often topped the 20 miles per hour, Lewis and English rode out the conditions better than anyone else.
"I struggled for a while, and then I think really things got so low that you couldn't get any lower," Lewis said at the end of his round. "So it was like, 'Well, only good things can happen now.'"
The Englishman eagled the third hole and made birdies at the fifth and the 18th in a bogey-free round.
English, who is still searching for his first PGA Tour win since 2013, bogeyed the sixth and the 13th, but rescued his round with birdies at the first, seventh, 11th and 18th and an eagle at the third.
"I didn't hit it my best, but I knew it was going to be one of those rounds you're going to have to grind it out," he said once back in the clubhouse.
"It's windy out there, you're going to have a lot of cross-winds, and it played really tough. My short game was on point, and I made some really good putts."
Both leaders will start their second round from tee No. 10 on Friday, with English out with the first group alongside Harold Varner III, Kyoung-Hoon Lee at 6:45 a.m. ET.
Lewis, meanwhile, will tee off at 1:25 p.m. along with Rob Oppenheim and Mark Anderson.
Behind the leading duo, a five-man group comprising Zach Johnson, Cameron Tringale, J.T. Poston, Lee Westwood and Bryan Stuard is one shot behind, with Wyndham Clark, Brendan Steele and Doc Redman two shots adrift of the leaders.
Pre-tournament favorite Tommy Fleetwood finished with an even par 70, while former world No. 1 Brooks Koepka had a day to forget in his hometown tournament.
The four-time major winner, who was the bookmakers' joint-favorite alongside Fleetwood, made a triple bogey and a double bogey over the course of four holes on the front nine and ended up with a 4-over-par 74.
Things went even worse for Keith Mitchell, the man who Koepka lost to at PGA National last year. The defending champion shot 75, despite making two birdies in the final two holes, while Rickie Fowler, who won the tournament in 2017 and finished second alongside Koepka last year, finished with a 6-over-par 76.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of Friday.
Round 1 leaderboard
- Tom Lewis, Harris English -4
- Zach Johnson, Cameron Tringale, J.T. Poston, Lee Westwood, Bryan Stuard -3
- Wyndham Clark, Brendan Steele, Doc Redman -2
Selected tee times (All times ET)
Tee No. 1
- 6:45 a.m.—Robert Streb, Beau Hossler, Mark Hubbard
- 7:45 a.m.—Jim Herman, Aaron Wise, Rory Sabbatini
- 7:55 a.m.—Brian Stuard, Scott Brown, Sungjae Im
- 11:55 a.m.—Byeong Hun An, Xinjun Zhang, Erik van Rooyen
- 12:05 p.m.—Ian Poulter, Brendan Steele, Hudson Swafford
- 12:25 p.m.—Viktor Hovland, Joaquin Niemann, Rickie Fowler
- 12:35 p.m.—Justin Rose, Billy Horschel, Tommy Fleetwood
- 12:45 p.m.—Charl Schwartzel, Emiliano Grillo, Kiradech Aphibarnrat
Tee No. 10
- 6:45 a.m.—Harris English, Harold Varner III, Kyoung-Hoon Lee
- 7:05 a.m.—Chris Stroud, Kevin Streelman, Matt Wallace
- 7:35 a.m.—Shane Lowry, Gary Woodland, Louis Oosthuizen
- 7:45 a.m.—Brooks Koepka, Matthew Wolff, Keith Mitchell
- 7:55 p.m.—Scott Stallings, Lee Westwood, Jamie Lovemark
- 12:15 p.m.—C.T. Pan, Greg Chalmers, Jim Furyk
- 12:25 p.m.—Ryan Palmer, Keegan Bradley, Lucas Glover
- 1:25 p.m.—Rob Oppenheim, Mark Anderson, Tom Lewis
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
");jQuery(this).remove()}) jQuery('.start-slider').owlCarousel({loop:!1,margin:10,nav:!0,items:1}).on('changed.owl.carousel',function(event){var currentItem=event.item.index;var totalItems=event.item.count;if(currentItem===0){jQuery('.owl-prev').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-prev').removeClass('disabled')} if(currentItem===totalItems-1){jQuery('.owl-next').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-next').removeClass('disabled')}})}})})
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrK6enZtjsLC5jqGmp5yRYrCtrdKsoJxlpJqybsDIppysZZantqWt2Garr2WTpMOmvsCgnGaklZaxpr7BqJirnF1mgXmFkG1u