Kevin Na was on quite a roll Thursday at the Fort Worth Invitational until he couldn’t decide on what club to hit for his approach to the ninth, his final hole of the day.
Na pulled his club and asked long-time caddie Kenny Harms: “Do you like this club?” Harms immediately answered “No!” Na asked again, got the same answer, asked a third time and got a third “No.”
Na hit it anyway, pulled his shot left of the green and left himself 92 feet from the hole with a difficult chip. He need par for 63, needed a drop from a nearby cart path then finally played his shot.
He played it perfect, it tracked toward the cup and eventually fell in for birdie and a mind-numbing 62 at Colonial Country Club.
“I told you so,” Na said to Harms, laughing.
“I can’t believe it went in,” Na later said after his eight-under par effort gave him the day one solo lead at the Fort Worth Invitational.
Na, who played the back nine first, started an amazing run at the 16th then added birdies at 17 and 18. “At one I hit three-wood to two feet,” he recounted. Easy eagle then another birdie at two gave him a six-under par stretch for those five holes. After 32 on the back, the miracle chip-in at nine added up to 30.
“Making putts and staying patient,” was how Na described the keys to his round, which was a shot off the tournament record of 61.
Na schooled all the big names in the field. Justin Rose shot 66, Rickie Fowler 67, Jon Rahm 68, Jordan Spieth 69 and Brooks Koepka finished with an uninspiring 70.
As good as Na’s round was, it only gave him a one-shot lead over Charlie Hoffman, who cruised around in seven-under, 63.
