NAPLES, Fla. — Jason Day and Cameron Tringale shot a 17-under 55 on Thursday in the first-round scramble to take a two-stroke lead in the Franklin Templeton Shootout.
“The abridged version is, I hit first and then let Jason loose,” Tringale said.
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Day and Tringale tied the tournament scramble record set by tourney host Greg Norman and Nick Price in 1993 and matched by Peter Jacobsen and John Cook in 1998 and Norman and Steve Elkington in 2005.
“Scramble is one of those formats where you have to go at it and shoot lights out,” Day said. “It definitely helps when you have a partner who hits it down the middle all the time and putts great.”
They were 12 under on the last 12 holes at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.
Defending champions Matt Kuchar and Harris English opened with a 57. They birdied 14 of their last 15 holes.
“To go 15 is great,” Kuchar said. “To go 17 is quite amazing.
All 12 teams were 11 under or better. The teams will play a modified alternate shot Friday and close with a better-ball round Saturday.
Keegan Bradley-Camilo Villegas, Graeme McDowell-Gary Woodland and Ryan Palmer-Jimmy Walker shot 59.
Patrick Reed played two days after wife Justine suffered a grand mal seizure.
“We are really fortunate that she is OK and lucky that I was in the room with her to save her from drowning,” Reed said.
Reed, a late replacement for Chris Kirk, teamed with Brandt Snedeker to shoot 61. They were tied for 10th.
n The PGA Tour is slightly reducing the volatility in the FedEx Cup playoffs by making those tournaments worth only four times more than the regular season.
It was the first change to the system since 2009. The value of playoff events previously was five times great.
The points will be reset going into the Tour Championship so that all 30 players have a mathematical chance to win the $10 million bonus, and the top five only have to win the tournament to claim the FedEx Cup.
Another change approved by its policy board this week was to eliminate the 54-hole cut during the playoffs. The 54-hole cut is used when more than 78 players advance to the weekend. That came into play at both full-field playoff events this year.
AUSTRALIAN PGA: South Korean’s Jin Jeong birdied three of six holes in the completion of the suspended first round for a 7-under 65 and a one-stroke lead in the Australian PGA on the Gold Coast.
Jeong was one of the players forced to complete the round Friday after play was delayed Thursday because of lightning. American Boo Weekley opened with a 66, and defending champion Adam Scott had a 68.
ASIAN TOUR: Australia’s Marcus Fraser chipped in for birdie on the 18th hole for a 3-under 69 and a share of the first-round lead in the Thailand Golf Championship in Chonburi, Thailand.
Local player Thanyakorn Khrongpha, Canada’s Richard Lee and Taiwan’s Lu Wei-chih also shot 69.
England’s Lee Westwood had a 70, defending champion Sergio Garcia of Spain was another stroke back along with Germany’s Martin Kaymer, and Masters champion Bubba Watson had a 76.
EUROPEAN TOUR: South Africa’s Branden Grace shot a 10-under 62 at Leopard Creek to take a three-stroke lead in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Malelane, South Africa.
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