Tony Finau hits from the first tee Thursday during the first round of the Workday Championship in Bradenton, Fla. Finau shot a 68 and was two strokes behind leaders Webb Simpson and Matthew Fitzpatrick. Tiffany Tompkins/The Bradenton Herald via AP
BRADENTON, Fla. — Webb Simpson ran off three straight late birdies for a share of the lead Thursday in the Workday Championship.
Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, meanwhile, ran up some big numbers.
Simpson matched Matthew Fitzpatrick with a 6-under 66 in the World Golf Championships event moved from Mexico to Florida because of COVID-19 circumstances.
Simpson’s finishing stretch included a wedge to 2 feet, a 30-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole and a two-putt birdie from about 40 feet on the par-5 17th.
Fitzpatrick, who contended last week in the Genesis Invitational, played bogey-free on the Jack Nicklaus design that had never been used for a PGA Tour event.
“Very pleased with the start,” Simpson said. “I worked on a couple things last week with putting alignment and with my driver and I saw good things from that today. You always want to see it first round back, but it doesn’t always happen that way, so I was happy to see like tough tee shots with trouble, really stepping up and making good swings.
“And made a lot of putts today,” he added, “so that was a good feeling.”
The top-ranked Johnson made two double bogeys in a 77. DeChambeau and Bubba Watson also shot 77, with DeChambeau taking a triple bogey on the par-4 16th.
Matthew Wolff shot an 83 and withdrew.
Brooks Koepka was a stroke out of the lead after a 67, along with Billy Horschel, Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner.
Second-ranked Jon Rahm bogeyed the final hole late in the afternoon for a 68.
Tony Finau, coming off a playoff loss to Max Homa last week at the Genesis Invitational, also was at 68 with defending champion Patrick Reed, Wade Ormsby, Sungjae Im and Cameron Smith.
Rory McIlroy had three bogeys in a 69.
Third-ranked Justin Thomas birdied three of the last four holes for a 73. He dropped four strokes in a three-hole stretch on his first nine, making a double bogey and two bogeys.
• Tommy Gainey birdied five of the last seven holes at breezy Grand Reserve for a 7-under 65 and the first-round lead Thursday in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open.
Gainey had a one-stroke lead over local favorite Rafael Campos, Robert Garrigus, Taylor Pendrith, Lee Hodges, Greg Chalmers, Fabian Gomez and Brandon Wu.
LPGA: Annika Sorenstam doesn’t remember golf being this difficult.
She still managed plenty of smiles when the most dominant player of her era played her first LPGA Tour event in more than 12 years. With one birdie and one bad hole, Sorenstam had a 3-over 75 in the LPGA Gainbridge on her home course at Lake Nona in Orlando, Florida.
“It seems a little bit more stressful, this kind of golf,” she said.
Sorenstam was 10 shots behind another Lake Nona member, Lydia Ko, who opened with a 7-under 65 for a two-shot lead.
But then, this week isn’t about Sorenstam adding to her 72 career victories or even starting a comeback at age 50. The LPGA Tour came to her home course and she wanted to play.
Lake Nona members and a few family guests were allowed, and Sorenstam found about 150 people gathered around the first tee. That constitutes a sizeable crowd in the COVID-19 pandemic era.
“I was quite nervous. I’ve been nervous for a few days,” said Sorenstam.
The highlight was a gap wedge from about 95 yards on the 14th hole that landed some 10 feet behind the hole and spun back to a foot away for a tap-in birdie.
After opening with four pars, she pulled her tee shot on the fifth hole so far left that it settled directly under the gate of a wrought-iron fence. The rules officials determined it was in play “by a dimple.” Sorenstam asked if she could open the gate to play the shot, but that wasn’t allowed.
And then she almost made other mistake. She was reminded the drop was knee-length, not shoulder-length. The Rules of Golf have been updated three times since she last played, the major overhaul coming two years ago.
“I have not studied the rules in 13 years. Rules are not part of my life right now,” she said with a laugh.
After a penalty drop, she hit it back toward the fairway to about 70 yards, hit an ordinary wedge and three-putted from about 18 feet for a triple bogey.
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