Smotherman ahead as Koepka implodes

Austin Smotherman fired a bogey-free 9-under 62 to take the first-round lead at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches Gardens Florida.

He leads Nico Echavarria of Colombia by one stroke while a six-man group including Taylor Moore, Jackson Suber, Kevin Roy, Daniel Berger, Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan and Sweden’s Pontus Nyholm trail at 4-under 67s.

It was a horrendous day for five-time major championship winner Brooks Koepka who could only muster a three-over round.

Smotherman fired six straight birdies in the middle of his round to match his lowest round on the PGA Tour. He also shot 62 in the first round of the Bermuda Championship in October 2022 but has yet to win in any of his 81 Tour starts.

He made his six consecutive birdies on Nos. 7-12 for his most consecutive birdies in a round on Tour.

Smotherman had missed the cut in lone previous appearance at the tournament four years ago and missed the cut in three start this season. However, he did finished tied-8th at the American Express.

Echavarria carded a bogey-free 63 that matches his career low round on Tour and comes into the tournament missing four cuts and a tied-8th finish at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am).

Making his fourth appearance at the tournament, the Colombian is seeking his third PGA Tour title to add to the 2023 Puerto Rico Open and 2024 Baycurrent Classic wins.

Berger is seeking his fourth top-five finish in his 10^th start at this event while rookie Reitan of Norway, making his seventh Tour start, his first.

Also tied third, is another rookie Nyholm, who is hoping to make his first cut in his fifth start on the Tour.

David Ford is tied-68 with a one over round, but fired eagles on hole Nos. 2 and 3 to become the first player in the last 20 years to make back-to-back eagles at PGA National (Champion Course).

Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open had a round of one-under to be tied-35 with defending champion Joe Highsmith.

Meanwhile, six players share the first-round lead at Argentina Open golf championships.

Winner of the championships tow years ago, Mason Andersen opened with bogey-free 7-under 63, highlighted by five birdies on the front nine. He is tied atop the leaderboard with Carl Yuan, Matthew Anderson, Carson Bacha, Hunter Eichhorn and Alistair Docherty.

First-Round Leaderboard Cognizant Classic