FORT WORTH, Texas — Ryan Palmer stood on the first tee box at Colonial Country Club on Thursday — something he’s done thousands of times in the past as a member of the storied club — and the nerves crept in.
The results, however, didn’t show it. Palmer ripped a 297-yard drive down the left side of the 568-yard par-5 to open the Charles Schwab Challenge, the official return of the PGA Tour 91 days after the Players Championship was halted one round in.
Palmer said on Thursday he was honored to be the one to handle that assignment.
“I was a little nervous, obviously, but very exciting. I’m honored that they asked me to do it. I’m proud to be a member of this great club in Fort Worth, Colonial, and I’m pretty honored to be asked to hit the first shot for the return to golf for sure,” Palmer said. “Not the day I wanted, but overall some good things happened out there today. Yeah, I was a little nervous obviously going to hit that first shot and hit it good, but it was a great feeling to be that person.”
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Like Palmer said, while the beginning of Thursday’s round went smoothly, things turned somewhere near the 9 a.m. CT point. After posting birdies on Nos. 2, 6 and 7, Palmer finished the front with a pair of bogeys to make the turn at 34.
Things got worse on the back. After a bogey on No. 10, he pushed a drive on No. 16 out of bounds and wound up with a double-bogey. Palmer, who had been picked by many as a pre-tournament sleeper to contend, finished the opening round with an unimpressive 72.
Palmer lives in nearby Colleyville, has been a member of Colonial since 2010, and his long-time caddie, good friend James Edmondson, has been a Colonial member since 2005. Edmondson lives just 22 minutes away in North Richland Hills.
When Palmer had his birdie putts rolling in early, and got no reaction to the lack of fans, he said he almost had to manufacture the support.
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“You hit a putt and it goes in, and you’re talking to yourself, making the crowd noise yourself, I guess,” Palmer said. “It was a little different because I’m used to having a lot of friends and family out watching, so that was obviously different. But it was nice to get off to a good start like that. Making putts, you don’t hear much from it, so a little different. But it was just great to be out there playing.”
As for the lengthy break, Palmer said it made Thursday’s opening round akin to a winter tournament. Palmer was paired with Bill Haas and Brian Harman, and the latter fired a 65 to get near the top of the leaderboard.
“It felt like it was the Sony Open almost when you take November and December off and you have an off-season,” Palmer said of the Hawaiian tournament he won back in 2010. “It was an off-season we had during the season. So that’s kind of the feeling, I guess.”
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