It took Bryce Molder nine holes to get going Thursday morning at Colonial Country Club but when he finally got his eyes open, he tore up his final nine holes Thursday and shot 64.
Molder took the first round lead at the Colonial Invitational after he teed off very early. “It was almost dark because it was early and it was cloudy, we were kidding that they were gonna blow the horn because of darkness,” Molder said, looking back on a start that saw him rattle off nine pars in a row on the back nine to start his day.
Then things got going in a hurry. He birdied his first two holes after he turned to the front, then finished off his day with four straight to shoot 29 coming home. “I may have still been asleep,” Molder said of his play on the first nine holes of the day. “I hit a lot of greens early. I’ve always loved these greens. You get it on line on these greens and they’re gonna go in.”
Molder saw enough putts to in to hold a one-shot lead over Anirban Lahiri, Patrick Reed and former U.S. Open champion Web Simpson.
The tournament’s main draw — Jordan Spieth — didn’t do anything impressive but still when the day was over, he managed to negotiate a three-under par 67. He fared a lot better than seventh-ranked Adam Scott, who shot 72 and will have to hustle on Friday to make the 36-hole cut.
Defending champion Chris Kirk shot an even par 70.
Low scores were there to be had. Fifty-eight players shot even par 70 or better.
