Rory: PGA Tour support distracts from golf prep

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AVONDALE, La. – They call it ham and egging when a team cleverly splits their good holes between them. Chez Reavie and Lucas Glover timed it perfectly with six birdies each to send their team to a blistering opening 12-under 60 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Thursday and a share of the lead with Chinese duo Xinjun Zhang and Zecheng Dou. The key? Making a ton of putts after solid communication. While most teams leave each individual to do their own thing in Four-ball play, this pair picked each other’s brains. And it worked. “We read them right early, and that just gave us good feeling for the rest of the day. Chez birdied the first two; we were dead on with both the reads, so we just kept it going,â€� former U.S. Open winner Glover explained. “We changed maybe a ball or two in a direction one way or the other and that was it. We were pretty right on. Luckily we were hitting our lines also.â€� The pair combined last season for a T39 finish and learned plenty from the experience. Joining back together again they’ve taken an analytical approach, as well as putting in plenty of practice. “I think we’re both really good ball strikers. We wanted to strategize properly, and so I would lay back in some of the fairways and let him get more aggressive on the tees,â€� Reavie explained. “We’re just very comfortable helping each other out. If I tell him something and he’s not all in, then he’s going to do what he wants and I’m completely good with it, and vice versa.â€� They expect to keep the roll going in alternate shot on Friday after getting in a solid 27 holes of practice in the format over the past few days. NOTABLES Xinjun Zhang and Zecheng Dou have been struggling a little in their rookie seasons on the PGA TOUR, but the Chinese pioneers had no such issues Thursday. Zhang, who sits 128th in the FedExCup and Dou, who is a distant 215th, came flying home in the final group to join the lead at 12-under 60. Despite being in the culinary town of New Orleans, the pair said they felt at home after finding a Chinese market and buying supplies. Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown are still a little rankled by their playoff loss to Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt a year ago, so their 10-under 62 to open this year was certainly a step in the right direction for redemption. They sit T3. “Obviously we didn’t finish it off the way we wanted to, so we’re coming back for a little revenge this week,â€� Kisner said. Tony Finau and Daniel Summerhays have been friends a long time. They share the same coach (Daniel’s brother Boyd) and Utah roots. Summerhays opened their round with two birdies and closed it the same way to help them to a 10-under 62 and T3 position. Finau – in his return from an ankle injury had six birdies of his own. “I think it’s really important to get off to a good start in best ball,â€� Summerhays said. “Last year we started alternate shot and you always felt like you were behind the eight ball, because it is a more difficult format. So to come out and really play good golf as a team I think that sets us up really nice for tomorrow.â€� Tommy Fleetwood and Chris Paisley are looking to continue the trend of international winners at the Zurich Classic. The English pair and good mates fired up an impressive 10-under 62 to be T3. Both have won on the European Tour this season and are looking to now notch up a PGA TOUR win. “It’s been kind of the best start to the year I’ve ever had,â€� Paisley said. “It’s been amazing. Hopefully I can just kind of keep it going. Maybe get my card over here. That would be great.â€� Jim Furyk and David Duval turned back the clock with an impressive 7-under 65. Duval, who has played just seven TOUR events in the last three seasons and hasn’t made a cut since 2015, produced four of the seven birdies. “It’s a joy,â€� the former World No. 1 Duval said. “The competition is different. I certainly miss it. I’d like to play a little bit more than I do.â€� Rob Oppenheim created a huge highlight with an albatross on the par-5 7th hole. His hole-out from 262 yards helped his partnership with Nick Lashley open with an 8-under 64 to be T11. Roundup: Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer sit T32 after a 6-under 66. Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt started their title defense with a respectable 7-under 65 to be tied 21st. Patrick Reed, in his first start since winning the Masters is T21 after a 65 with Patrick Cantlay. FedExCup leader Justin Thomas and Bud Cauley struggled to a 2-under 70 to be T77 of 80 teams. QUOTABLES Going to try and look good so we feel good to play good.When you got on so well and you feel comfortable, it makes a big difference out there.He’s the par-3 assassin, so he gets three Par-3s and I get to putt them.Sometimes simplicity is huge in this game. SUPERLATIVES Low Round: 12-under 60 from the Chez Reavie/Lucas Glover and Xinjun Zhang and Zecheng Dou teams. Hardest Hole: Par-4 15th played as the only hole over par at 4.013. It yielded just five birdies. Easiest Hole: The Par-5 7th averaged at 4.238 and had three eagles and 54 birdies. SHOT OF THE DAY

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Jon Rahm shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday to get into contention at the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields, but all anyone wanted to talk about was the one hole he bogeyed. He forgot to mark his ball before picking it up at the par-4 fifth hole. Penalty: one stroke. "I just hope I don’t lose by one," Rahm said. "I’m just going to say that. I just hope. And if I do, well, very well my fault. It’s as simple as that." How exactly did he forget to mark his ball before picking it up? Well, even Rahm isn't entirely sure. He had hit his approach to just inside 44 feet when, as he describes it, his mind simply went on walkabout. "I was holding my marker in my pocket," he said of the Arizona State poker chip he uses from far away. "Just went at it, and for some reason I just picked up the ball thinking I marked it already. I was thinking of somebody else and something else or somebody - and yeah, I just picked up the ball without marking it, simple as that." He froze upon realizing his mistake, and fessed up to his violation. "Once I replaced it," he said, "took the penalty and moved on." It was Rahm's only bogey of the day on a course that has confounded the best players in the world, and he was especially proud to have shot 66 after such a lapse. "I’m proud of being able to maintain my composure afterwards," he said. "I think the most important shot of the round was that second putt, the six-footer for bogey. Technically, it helped out a lot. I was able to tell myself I was 1 under par through five holes. It’s not easy; the first few holes aren’t playing that easy today. Just more so proud that I was able to pull it off afterwards. "I really can’t give you an explanation," he added. "It’s one of those things that happen in golf. Never thought it would happen in my professional career, but here we are."

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