Charley Hoffman and Ryan Palmer posted 10 birdies and three eagles to open with a 16-under 56, one stroke shy of the tournament Scramble record of 55.
https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1601312365622235136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1601312365622235136%7Ctwgr%5E43431ca100f0a486f2b24ac073d15f2062729844%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FPGATOUR2Fstatus2F1601312365622235136widget%3DTweet
They are both making their tenth appearance in the QBE Shootout but are playing as partners for the first time.
“Ryan told me at the beginning of the week we need to tie his record of 17 under and I mean, I fell short, so I feel like I had a down day, he didn’t come through at the end there making that putt.
“No, all in all we put ourself in great positions to make birdies. I would say very low stress all day long. For me, I putted first so it wasn’t that stressful for me. Ryan made some great putts. I was able to hit some good drives and be able to capitalize on pretty much all our shots except 18,” said Hoffman.
“I honestly think we both can strike the ball well. The way he drives it with his length and I’m not short by any means, but I think our ball-striking together is very strong. And then you get the putter rolling, that gives us a lot more confidence going into tomorrow’s format with the way we both hit our irons today and we were able to make some putts,” said Palmer.
“Tomorrow it’s a matter of just both driving it well and then you choose on which ball to play and all that. If we’re both hitting it well, I think we’ll have a lot of chances tomorrow.”
The first-round leader/co-leader of the QBE Shootout has converted for the win 16 times, most recently Brian Harman and Patton Kizzire in 2018.
Corey Conners and K.H. Lee are tied in second place at 14-under alongside Max Homa and Kevin Kisner.
For the first time in tournament history, multiple LPGA professionals teed it up and both sit T4 at 12-under with their respective partners (Lexi Thompson/Maverick McNealy, Nelly Korda/Denny McCarthy).
