Xander Schauffele leads by one at Sentry Tournament of Champions

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Scott Harrington enjoyed his long-awaited debut as a PGA TOUR member. In his 17th year as a professional, the 38-year-old rookie shot a 6-under 64 on Thursday, leaving him two strokes behind first-round leader Robby Shelton in the A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. With all 21 tour rookies and other Korn Ferry Tour graduates in the field, the first round of the PGA TOUR’s season opener in West Virginia was a chance for the new guys and journeymen to make an impression. Especially for Harrington. “I always did think I was going to get here,” Harrington said. “Even though I’m 38 years old, I feel like I’m every bit as capable of winning out here as any 22 year old. Yeah, age is just a number.” Harrington turned pro in 2003 and played in four PGA TOUR events over the next 12 years. He took time off last year to be with his wife, Jenn, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The disease is now in remission. He locked up his first PGA TOUR card with a runner-up finish last month at a Korn Ferry event in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. In his debut Thursday, Harrington hit just nine fairways and 12 greens in regulation but made four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn. “It was a lot of fun,” Harrington said. “I’ll certainly remember this one for sure. I’ll remember it even more if I can put a few more good ones together.” Shelton made eight starts on tour as a non-member in 2016-17. He has his TOUR card for the first time after winning two Korn Ferry events in May. “I’m fired up,” Shelton said. “Last night it was tough to sleep. I’ve been waiting for this moment all season.” Starting on the back nine on the Old White TPC, the 24-year-old Shelton made the turn at 3 under and birdied Nos. 1-3. The 8-under 62 is his lowest score on TOUR. Defending champion Kevin Na, Lanto Griffin, Mark Hubbard and Zack Sucher matched Harrington at 64. Na’s putter won last year’s tournament. On Thursday, his approach shots got him onto the first page of the leaderboard. He had four birdies over his final six holes. Three of his back-nine birdies were putts of under 10 feet. “I have a lot of good memories here and I’m excited to be back defending,” Na said. “Nice to see my picture up on the wall and have my own defending champion locker. It’s pretty cool.” Hubbard, who won once in 23 Korn Ferry Tour events last season, had a bogey-free round and is looking for his first top-10 finish since joining the PGA TOUR in 2015. “Finishing 40th every week isn’t fun. Grinding to make cuts isn’t fun,” Hubbard said. “I feel like I needed to go back and get that experience and learn how to win again, and this time around I think I’ll find myself in the mix a lot more.” Brian Harman, Sung Kang, Harold Varner III and Jimmy Walker topped the group at 65. Hank Lebioda birdied seven of his first 11 holes in a 67. Bryson DeChambeau had a 68. Former Marshall player Davey Jude shot 70, two months after his father and caddie, David, was among seven people killed in a helicopter accident in the Bahamas.

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LA QUINTA, Calif. – Curtis Luck could dramatically change his season with a good weekend at the Desert Classic. The 22-year-old Australian will start Saturday in second place after missing four of his first five cuts this season. He sits at 14-under 130 (64-66), two shots behind fellow U.S. Amateur champion Phil Mickelson. Mickelson is the 36-hole leader following Thursday’s 60 with a 4-under 68. Luck and Mickelson both have 16 birdies this week, the most in the field (Mickelson also has an eagle), but now they have two rounds remaining on PGA West’s Stadium Course, the toughest of the three courses in use this week. Luck made eight birdies in each of his first two rounds, but also had two bogeys Friday. MUST READS: Round 2, Desert Classic “Just like yesterday. Very solid, lot of greens, a lot of fairways. Just missed a couple of short ones today, unfortunately, on the greens,� he said. He’s needed just 23 putts in each of the first two rounds. He is T79 in greens hit (25 of 36) but first in putts per green in regulation (1.44). Luck, the 2016 U.S. Amateur champion, is playing his first season as a PGA TOUR member after earning his card via the Web.com Tour Finals.  He didn’t qualify for the Finals until the last week of the Web.com Tour’s Regular Season, finishing sixth at the WinCo Foods Portland Open to jump inside the top 75 on the money list and qualify for the four-event series that is the only source of PGA TOUR cards. Luck posted two top-10s in the four Finals events to become a TOUR member. Now he’s trying to turn around his season after a tough start. A 50th-place finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship is his best showing this season.

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