After More Than Month Away From The Links, Donald Trump Back To The Golf Course During Stay At Luxury Resort

SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Peter Malnati saw his infant son at a PGA TOUR event for the first time since the pandemic, which brought a smile to his face and another birdie on his card for an 8-under 63 and a one-shot lead Thursday in the Bermuda Championship. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Ghim taking advantage of second chance The tournament is the first to allow limited fans — no more than 500 a day at Port Royal — since the opening round of THE PLAYERS Championship on March 12. The final birdie was the ninth of the round for Malnati, who has gone from the South to the West to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and keeps playing some of his best golf. It was the third time in his last three events he posted a 63 or lower. Malnati was runner-up at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi and followed that with a tie for fifth at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. This round gave him a one-shot lead over Ryan Armour and Doug Ghim, who birdied his last two holes. "With everything in the world right now — and this island is doing a phenomenal job with their testing protocol and keeping everyone safe — I just didn’t know if it was actually going to work for them to get out here," Malnati said of about his wife and 1-year-old son. “So coming off that disappointing bogey on 17, I hit a nice drive on 18 and before I even get my yardage or anything, I see my wife and boy standing out there. "It just brought a huge smile to my face," he said. "To see them and then to finish with that birdie, I’m a happy man." Malnati ran off five straight birdies starting with No. 9, and he was looking to finish strong. Among the shorter hitters in the modern power game, he had made up his mind to take on the bunkers down the right side of the par-5 17th hole and turn it into an easy birdie. Instead, he turned it left into the water for a penalty stroke and made bogey. "So that stunk," he said. "But how can I complain about much? We’re on the island of Bermuda and I sure played great." The Bermuda Championship receives full status this year because the HSBC Champions in Shanghai was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning Bermuda is not the same week as a World Golf Championships event. The winner receives an invitation to the Masters Tournament next year. It also is the start of consecutive PGA TOUR events allowing limited fans. The Houston Open has said it will sell no more than 2,000 tickets a day. The Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, the first event of 2021, also announced this week it would have limited fans. Doc Redman, Vaughn Taylor and Chase Seiffert were at 65, while Hunter Mahan was in the group at 66. It was Mahan’s lowest opening round in more than two years. Three-time major champion and Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington opened with a 67. Harrington won at Port Royal in 2013 in the final stages of the course hosting the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Fred Funk, the 64-year-old regular on the PGA TOUR Champions, shot 69. He played in the same group as his son, Taylor Funk, who shot a 73.

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Corey Conners … Can’t be ruled out as one of the many who probably didn’t mind the hiatus when it occurred. After a T19 in his debut at Kapalua and a T12 the week after at Waialae, he went just 2-for-5 with no better than a T45 at TPC Scottsdale. Ready to go again at Colonial where he placed T8 in his debut in 2018 and T31 last year. Because his title defense at the Valero Texas Open was canceled this year, the 28-year-old Canuck also might have a chip on his shoulder to represent in the Lone Star State this week. Russell Knox … Think he also could’ve used a break when the pandemic shut things down? After connecting 11 paydays worldwide from September through the first weekend in February, he missed four straight cuts immediately before the hiatus. It’s a disappointment he’s never experienced at Colonial where he’s finished in the top 25 in all four tries with a personal-best T8 last year. The Scot will turn 35 on June 21. Emiliano Grillo … Like Conners and Knox, Grillo is among the TOUR leaders in setting up scoring opportunities and tee-to-green mastery. While that data is three months old, it’s the kind of formula that’s worked at Colonial for all three. The 27-year-old from Argentina hasn’t missed a cut in four trips, the last three of which yielding a top 25. He bookended a solo third in 2018 with 64s. Brian Harman … Since that torrid pace before and through the holiday break late in 2017, he’s descended back to terra firma, but he’s also a beneficiary of a consistently strong first half of this season. En route to slotting 20th in adjusted scoring, the 33-year-old lefty logged a T3 and another four top 25s to shore up a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs. His record at Colonial since 2014 is similar with a T7 among four top 25s contributing to a 6-for-6 burst. Vaughn Taylor … That he’s 44 years of age is a bonus at Colonial where he’s making his 12th appearance. In fact, since turning 40, he’s 4-for-4 here with a pair of top 20s. Profiles better as a sharpshooter off the tee and putter than he does with the irons, but the totality of his results over time overshadow a deep dive into his bag. This season alone he’s gone for four top 15s, including a co-runner-up at Mayakoba. It also can’t be overstated how much he’s capitalized on his return to glory at Pebble Beach early in 2016. That was a fork in the road, and he took it. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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