Ben Kohles completed his bogey-free first round with an eagle for a two-stroke lead at 9-under-par 62 on Thursday at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minn.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, making his debut in the tournament at TPC Twin Cities, is three shots back, tied for fifth after his bogey-free 65. Scheffler started his round at No. 10 and was 2 under on the back nine with birdies at Nos. 12 and 18, then heated up with birdies at Nos. 1, 4, 6 and 7.
Kohles, 36, is ranked No. 128 in the world and seeking his first win on the PGA Tour. He finished tied for third at the John Deere Classic on July 5.
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He birdied Nos. 2, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 15, then made eagle on the par-5 18th hole. Kohles ranked first on Thursday in greens in regulation (17 of 18), tied for third in driving accuracy (12 of 14, 85.7%) and ranked 39th in feet of putts made (82 feet, 7 inches).
Jackson Koivun, Gary Woodland and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo are tied for second after each shot 7-under 64.
Scheffler is tied at 6 under with Lucas Glover, Michael Brennan, Kevin Roy and Sweden’s Jesper Svensson.
Defending champion Kurt Kitayama is tied for 26th at 3-under 68. He opened with the first of his seven birdies, including No. 1 and 18, but was undermined by a bogey at the par-4 No. 3 and a triple bogey at the par-4 No. 9.
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Fresh from a sixth-place finish at the Open Championship, Australia’s Lucas Herbert fired an 11-under-par 61 to take a three-shot lead after one round of LIV Golf United Kingdom in Rocester, England.
Herbert broke the JCB Golf and Country Club course record by one shot when he birdied No. 16, but he settled for pars on 17 and 18 to short-circuit his bid to break 60.
Leaving aside Herbert jokingly blaming caddie Nick Pugh for coming up short at 18, Thursday’s round marked the second time in seven days that Herbert finished a brilliant round with a missed putt on the final hole with history at stake.
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On Friday at Royal Birkdale, Herbert tied the record for lowest round in a major with his 62. Though he missed a five-footer for par at No. 18 that would have claimed the record for himself, the 30-year-old still claimed the Open lead after 36 holes to set up his best finish in a major.
On Thursday, Herbert opened his round birdie-birdie-birdie and finished with nine birdies, one eagle and no bogeys.
Bryson DeChambeau, who also enjoyed most of his Open experience, stands second after a roller-coaster of a 64. He started with three birdies before suffering a bogey at No. 4 and earning an eagle at No. 6. He added four straight birdies on the back nine before a bogey landed him at 8 under for the day.
Harold Varner III and England’s Tyrell Hatton share third place at 6 under while Canada’s Richard T. Lee and South Korea’s Byeong Hun An are another stroke back.
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Lauren Coughlin and South Korea’s Jenny Shin fired 6-under-par 66s to share the Scottish Open first-round lead at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire, Scotland.
Coughlin, who won the Scottish Open in 2024, compiled eight birdies and two bogeys on a links course that didn’t play like normal due to Europe’s recent heat wave.
Shin, who started on the back nine like Coughlin, posted seven birdies on the day — including birdies at her first three par-5s.
Korea’s A Lim Kim sits one shot behind at 67 while Sweden’s Lisa Pettersson (69) posted the day’s only other sub-70 score in the 144-golfer field.
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World No. 1 Nelly Korda posted a 72 to share 14th place after one round. Playing in the same group as Korda, defending champion Lottie Woad of England got off to a poor start with a double bogey on No. 3 and a bogey on No. 4 before settling down for a 74.
Australia’s Cameron Percy posted a 7-under-par 63 to secure the first-round lead of the ISPS Handa Senior Open in Perth, Scotland.
Percy earned birdies on six of the first 12 holes on his way to an eight-birdie, one-bogey tour of Gleneagles Golf Course. He claimed a one-shot lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ final major of the year over France’s Lionel Alexandre.
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Alexandre, 53, does not have a ton of experience playing in majors — a 72nd- place finish at the 2000 Open Championship served as his only major during his PGA Tour days — but it didn’t affect Thursday as he notched birdies on six of the final 12 holes for his 66.
South Africa’s Ernie Els leads a quartet sitting at 5 under. While Els enjoyed a relatively quiet round with six birdies and one bogey, Tom Pernice Jr. sprinkled an eagle and a double bogey into his 65. Pat Perez and Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez also posted 65s.
Jerry Kelly tops the group of five golfers at 66 while 11 more carded a 67 on a day when the links-style course was dry and relatively tranquil.
Defending champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland, who struggled with knee pain the previous two weeks while failing to make the cut at the Scottish Open and Open Championship, was not among the 44 golfers in the 144-man field to break par.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Ben Kohles leads 3M Open by two shots after first round: Golf roundup
