Justin Thomas and his father, Mike, combined to shoot a 15-under-par 57 on Saturday in the first round of the PNC Championship in Orlando, Fla.
Team Thomas carded 11 birdies and a pair of eagles at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club to take a two-stroke lead over the rest of the field in the 36-hole scramble. The Thomas’ bogey-free round also included five pars, only two of which came on the front nine.
Two more father-son duos, Vijay and Qass Singh and Tiger and Charlie Woods, are tied for second at 13 under. Justin Thomas emphasized just how fun it is to compete against those teams, especially Team Woods.
“Why do they work well? I mean, they are both good,” Justin said. “I mean, they are father and son. Yeah, they know each other’s games and they are both really good at golf.”
Justin also didn’t hesitate to reference the leaderboard.
“I would say we had about two shots more fun today,” Justin said.
Team Singh finished strong in the opening round, tallying birdies on the final five holes and on seven of the last eight. Team Woods started strong, carding six birdies and an eagle on the front nine, but only managed to go 1 under through Nos. 15-18.
“It was very similar to the feeling we had last year on Sunday. We just got rolling,” Tiger said of his and his son’s play on the front nine. “I had a little bit of a chip-in and all of a sudden a couple putts fell, and we were just trying to give ourselves as many opportunities getting in the fairway, iron shots and putts, and we just got rolling.”
Team Langer, consisting of Bernhard Langer and Jason Langer of Germany, sits in fourth at 12 under. Seven pairs are tied for fifth place at 11 under, including last year’s champion, Team Daly, which features John Daly and his son, Little John Daly Jr.
–Field Level Media