Jonathan Byrd finds old form at Palmetto Championship at Congaree

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The golf gods giveth, the golf gods taketh away. Just four days after reclaiming his position as world No. 1 with a victory at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Justin Thomas lost his ball in a tree at the par-4 seventh hole at the 102nd PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park. The bad break was part of a first-round 71 for the FedExCup leader. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Nine things to know about Harding Park | Woods opens with solid 68 Thomas was in the marquee group of the morning, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, which started on the back nine. Thomas had double-bogeyed the third hole, but steadied himself with three straight pars to remain at even par as he stood on the seventh tee. He lost his tee shot right. Then he literally lost it. The ball soared into the lush greenery of a cypress tree, and lodged there. It was a situation that Woods predicted we would see this week. “With the overhang of these cypress trees and the ball – there may be a couple lost balls here,” Woods said before the tournament. “Cut a corner and ball hangs up there, that could happen very easily here and has happened and I’m sure will this week as well.” It did. Thomas stood in the rough, looking forlornly up at the tree, recalling a similar moment in the first round of the 2014 John Deere Classic, when he also lost a ball in a tree. He later tweeted: Well, it wasn’t the last time. And it wasn’t funny this time, either. When his ball never came down at TPC Harding Park, Thomas was forced to take the stroke-and-distance penalty. His next tee shot was his third shot on the hole. It was unlucky, and with the stiff penalty he made another double-bogey. He did well just to salvage a 71 with a birdie at the difficult ninth hole. McIlroy shot even-par 70 and Woods was low man in the group with a 68. To Woods’ point, the incident was somewhat predictable. At the Olympic Club, which is visible across Lake Merced from TPC Harding Park, there have been multiple high-profile incidents involving balls hanging in the thick cypress trees that are common to the city’s golf courses. Lee Janzen saw his ball get stuck in a tree during the final round of the 1998 U.S. Open at Olympic Club, but it fell out just before the five-minute search limit and he went on to win the tournament. Lee Westwood started the final round of the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic in fourth place, but he lost a tee shot in a cypress tree and went on to finish four back of Webb Simpson. Even Woods, who attended Stanford University in Palo Alto, just down the peninsula from TPC Harding Park, admitted to having lost golf balls to the cypress trees. “Well, not here,” he said. “I’ve had a few at (nearby) Lake Merced. That’s one of the tightest golf courses and most claustrophobic places that I’ve ever played. Yeah, I’ve lost a few there.”

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RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico — Chase Seiffert started fast and closed with a birdie for a 7-under 65 and a share of the Puerto Rico Open lead with Michael Kim on Thursday. Trying to win for the first time on the PGA TOUR, Seiffert birdied Nos. 2-5 at breezy Grand Reserve, bogeyed the sixth and added birdies on Nos. 9, 13, 16 and 18. “Absolutely stoked,” Seiffert said. “We have wonderful conditions. I came out of the gates really putting well. That got my round off to a nice start. … It seemed like every time I missed the green, it was an easy up-and-down, so… Just kind of stress-free golf.” Kim had a bogey-free round. Since winning the John Deere Classic in 2018, he has made only 15 cuts in 75 starts on the PGA TOUR, including one stretch of 25 consecutive events without making it to the weekend. He was No. 75 in the world when he won and now is at No. 1,030. The event is being played opposite the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in Orlando, Florida. The winner will receive a two-year exemption and gets in the PGA Championship. Ryan Brehm was a stroke back, and Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Aaron Baddeley shot 67. University of Oklahoma senior Chris Gotterup had a 68 in his first TOUR round. He won the Puerto Rico Classic collegiate event two weeks ago at Grand Reserve. Vaughn Taylor also was at 68 with Ben Kohles, Nick Hardy, Patrick Flavin, Greg Chalmers, Peter Uihlein and Satoshi Kodaira. Puerto Rico native Rafa Campos birdied his last two holes for a 70. Kurt Kitayama, third last week in the Honda Classic, shot a 76.

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