Justin Rose and Harold Varner III share lead as PGA Tour returns with Charles Schwab Challenge

Justin Rose made an impressive start at the Charles Schwab Challenge
Getty Images
George Flood12 June 2020

PGA Tour golf returned from its coronavirus-enforced suspension behind closed doors on Thursday as players paid tribute to George Floyd at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.

The early starters at Colonial Country Club all observed a moment's silence in memory of Floyd, while the 08:46am tee time was left vacant.

African-American Mr Floyd died while in police custody last month after white officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, sparking protests across the United States and beyond.

Justin Rose made a strong start to proceedings in Texas, birdying four of the first seven holes and then picking up shots on each of the first three holes after making the turn.

That gave him a one-shot advantage over Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas and Mexico's Abraham Ancer, though American Harold Varner III later claimed a share of the overnight lead after a birdie at the 18th.

Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas also finished one shot behind the leaders.

Harold Varner III took a share of the overnight lead after a birdie at 18
Getty Images

Rory McIlroy finished the first round with a two-under 68, leaving him five off the pace and needing an improvement on Friday.

Dustin Johnson, meanwhile, did not enjoy his return to action as the world no5 stumbled to a one-over 71, carding four bogeys in a rusty round.

Ian Poulter was in a group tied for 10th place after a round of 66 while Phil Mickelson - fresh from his challenge matches with Tiger Woods during the shutdown - could only manage a one-under 69 to sit in a share of 38th place.

 PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan led a moment of silence to honour George Floyd
Getty Images

The event is the first on the PGA Tour since the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida in early March, and has drawn a star-studded field to Texas.

16 of the world's top 20 will be in action over the weekend.

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in