Great tournament start for Justin Thomas (-8). The American has signed the best card of the day at The Renaissance Club and stands alone as the leader of the Genesis Scottish Open.
Ironies of fate. This week Keegan Bradley was announced, quite unexpectedly, as the captain of the American team for next year’s Ryder Cup. Precisely, the leader in Scotland, Justin Thomas, was the most controversial choice of captain Zach Johnson in the past Ryder as he was not displaying his best game. Justin Thomas’ experience and weight in the locker room weighed in and the captain opted for JT, a decision that many assure was influenced by Jordan Spieth’s opinion. Keegan Bradley was the main victim and had to watch the Ryder on TV. Now Keegan is the captain.
There is a universe ahead until next September, but Justin Thomas gives Bradley the first nod towards Bethpage. Keegan has already made it clear that he will take the top twelve regardless of friends and circuits in which they compete. On the first day of Genesis, Justin Thomas raises his hand.
The Louisville native has signed an immaculate round that allows him to return to a tournament lead on the PGA Tour 761 days later. A fact that makes it clear that these have not been Thomas’ two best years. This Thursday at Renaissance he has performed at a very high level and for two hours he seemed touched by a wand.
Thomas has made seven birdies in a stretch of nine holes, between hole 5 and 13. Madness. No one could cough at the champion of two Majors. It seemed that he was going to smash the course record and in the end he was one stroke short of the 61 that marks that record. His round of 62 strokes is the twelfth he has achieved since 2015. No one has achieved as many in that same stretch.
Obviously, there is a lot left for next year’s Ryder, but it is an anecdote that just this week, Bradley and Thomas are the main protagonists.
Just one stroke behind the American is the Korean Sungjae Im (-7). No one has made more birdies than the Korean today. Nine birdies and two bogeys to finish second. Another of the big names of the day was the Swedish robot Ludvig Aberg (-6) who started with a round of 64 strokes and only two strokes from the leader. What a second shot he hit on hole 16 to make the eagle.
It was not the dream start of the Armada in Scotland. The best placed after the first day is Jorge Campillo (-2) in 56th place after a round of 68 strokes. The other players who have played in the afternoon shift have been Santiago Tarrío (-1), Pablo Larrazábal (PAR) and Adri Arnaus (+1).
After the first round, right now the three places for the Open that are distributed in this tournament would go to Justin Lower, Maximilian Kieffer and Thomas Detry (-6).
