BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — Richard Bland, on a break from his LIV Golf schedule to make his senior main championship debut, made essentially the most of it Thursday with a 7-under 64 to share the lead with Richard Inexperienced of Australia within the Senior PGA Championship.
Inexperienced performed within the morning and posted three birdies and an eagle on the par-5s at Harbor Shores. Bland had an opportunity to go him late within the afternoon till he needed to scramble for par on No. 8 after a uncommon dangerous tee shot and did not birdie the par-5 ninth.
They had been two pictures away from a bunch that included defending champion Steve Stricker.
Bland wasn’t certain he can be in any of the senior majors. The PGA of America affords a one-time exemption to anybody who has gained on the European tour over the previous 5 years; Bland grew to become a first-time winner on the 2021 British Masters at age 48.
The Englishman could not take the exemption final yr as a result of the Senior PGA was the identical week as LIV Golf Bedminster in New Jersey. However he was in a position to make use of it this yr.
“Utterly out of the blue. I wasn’t anticipating it,” Bland mentioned of the one-time exemption. “Sadly I could not play it — clashed with a LIV occasion. After which once I appeared on the schedule this yr, I noticed that it was a free week.”
He mentioned he requested the PGA of America if the invitation was nonetheless good, and he was on his manner.
“I am very grateful for the invite, and hopefully I can do one thing with it,” Bland mentioned.
He is likely one of the three LIV Golf gamers of their 50s, together with Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson. Bland has one top-10 on LIV this yr and is twenty fourth on the cash checklist with just below $1.9 million — almost $700,000 greater than Steven Alker, who leads the Charles Schwab Cup on the PGA Tour Champions.
Bland has the sport for Harbor Shores, primarily his accuracy off the tee, and that helped to maintain bogeys off his card. He did not miss a fairway till his seventeenth gap, the par-4 eighth.
“I drove the ball very well, which is a power of mine, which you want round right here,” he mentioned.
Inexperienced already was off to a fast begin when he hit hybrid from about 250 yards on the par-5 fifth gap to arrange eagle.
“Hit it simply excellent and simply formed it in there properly and it was monitoring in direction of the outlet,” Inexperienced mentioned. “I believe it ran throughout the sting of the outlet and completed about possibly 7 ft previous the outlet. In order that was clearly a kind of distinctive holes on the proper time to get the spherical going very well.”
He added birdies on three extra par-5s to offset his lone bogey at No. 6.
Stricker had by no means seen Harbor Shores till this week and felt uncomfortable with among the sight strains off the tee. He nonetheless managed seven birdies, his spherical slowed by a double-bogey on the par-4 sixteenth when he pulled his tee shot right into a hazard.
“We have got an extended methods to go, but it surely was vital to get off to begin,” Stricker mentioned. “I am stunned the scores are that low.”
Mike Weir, Okay.J. Choi, Scott Dunlap and membership professional Jeffrey Schmid joined Stricker at 5-under 66. Two-time PGA champion Vijay Singh, who selected to not play at Valhalla final week, and Stewart Cink had been amongst these at 67.
Bernhard Langer, driving in a cart as he tries to totally recuperate from a torn Achilles tendon in February, opened with a 74. He was at 1 beneath for his spherical till a double bogey-bogey-bogey end. Langer mentioned he hopes to be again to strolling 18 holes in a couple of extra months.
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