Poulter shares first-round lead at RBC Heritage
Ian Poulter fired seven birdies to share the first-round lead at the RBC Heritage on Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Ian Poulter fired seven birdies, including a 31-footer at the 17th, to share the first-round lead at the RBC Heritage on Thursday at seven-under par 74.
England s Poulter and American Mark Hubbard set the early pace at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and a raft of afternoon challengers failed to get past them.
Plenty came close however, with seven players tied on six-under 65 and another six on five-under par 66.
"Any time you shoot seven-under par around this golf course, it s obviously a pretty solid day," said Poulter, who won the last of his three US PGA Tour titles at the 2018 Houston Open.
"It s very important being bogey-free. It s a fiddly, testing, tricky golf course," Poulter added of the par-71 layout.
Poulter said he needed to improve off the tee, but his solid iron play included a 213-yard five-iron to five feet for a birdie at 18, and he didn t miss a putt from within 10 feet.
The highlight for Hubbard, whose best PGA Tour finish was a tie for second at the Houston Open earlier this season, was a 10-foot eagle on the second hole.
Colombia s Sebastian Munoz, Norway s Viktor Hovland, South Africa s Dylan Frittelli and Americans Webb Simpson, Michael Thompson, Brice Garnett and Ryan Palmer shared third on 65.
Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth was the unlikely leader of the group on five-under par 66, overcoming a triple-bogey at his third hole, the 12th, with eight birdies -- seven of them on his second nine.
"It s not a great feeling," Spieth said of finding himself three over through three holes after going right off the tee at 12.
His ball hit a tree and ended up out of bounds, but the American was able to regroup, stringing together six birdies in a row from the second through the seventh holes before capping his round with a birdie at nine.
Former world number one Brooks Koepka and South African veteran Ernie Els were among another big bunch on 67.
It was a "little bit of a struggle" for world number one Rory McIlroy, whose one-over 72 left him with work to do to make the cut.
Second-ranked Jon Rahm of Spain carded a 71.
McIlroy, coming off a disappointing 74 in the final round at the Charles Schwab Challenge, said there wasn t much change from Sunday s round at Colonial.
"Just missing tee-shots," the Northern Ireland star said, "Didn t get it in play enough to give myself looks at hitting it close into greens."
The tournament is the second since the US PGA Tour resumed play after a 91-day hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Poulter gave his Twitter followers an inside glimpse of some of the tour s health protocols when he posted a video of himself undergoing a nasal swab COVID-19 test on Wednesday -- calling it a "bizarre sensation."
Poulter tested negative, as have all players, caddies and officials for two straight weeks.
"It s a great start," Poulter said of the negative tests. "I don t think the PGA Tour would have expected that.
"They definitely would have expected a few people, certainly from as far and wide as people are traveling to come in and play golf."
