Simpson, Fitzpatrick share 1st-round lead at The Concession Club
Webb Simpson and Matt Fitzpatrick share the first-round lead of the WGC-Workday Championship after posting rounds of 66 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida.
Fitzpatrick went bogey-free around the difficult Jack Nicklaus layout, whereas Simpson made seven birdies and a single bogey to tie for the top spot at 6-under.
Brooks Koepka, two starts removed from his win in Phoenix, opened his WGC with a 5-under performance to share third with Billy Horschel, Sergio Garcia, and Kevin Kisner.
Here's how the top of the leaderboard stands following Day 1:
| Place | Player | To Par | R1 Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Webb Simpson | -6 | 66 |
| T1 | Matt Fitzpatrick | -6 | 66 |
| T3 | Brooks Koepka | -5 | 67 |
| T3 | Billy Horschel | -5 | 67 |
| T3 | Sergio Garcia | -5 | 67 |
| T3 | Kevin Kisner | -5 | 67 |
| T7 | Wade Ormsby | -4 | 68 |
| T7 | Sungjae Im | -4 | 68 |
| T7 | Cameron Smith | -4 | 68 |
| T7 | Patrick Reed | -4 | 68 |
| T7 | Jon Rahm | -4 | 68 |
| T7 | Tony Finau | -4 | 68 |
Rory McIlroy ranked 57th out of the field's 72 golfers in strokes gained putting for Round 1 but still shot 3-under.
Dustin Johnson (5-over), Bryson DeChambeau (5-over), and Matthew Wolff (11-over) struggled around The Concession.
The scoring average for the field, which consists of 47 of the top-50 golfers in the world, was 71.99. The par at The Concession Club is 72.