Argentina’s Ricardo Gonzalez opened the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational with an eagle, and he holds a one-shot lead after the first round of the event on Friday in Boca Raton, Fla.
Gonzalez shot a 6-under-par 66 at The Old Course at Broken Sound Club. Stewart Cink is one stroke back, with George McNeill and Australian Steve Allan tied for third at 4 under.
Greg Chalmers, another Aussie, shares fifth place with Ben Crane and Shane Bertsch at 3-under 69. Eleven players are tied for eighth at 70.
Gonzalez began his round on the par-5 10th hole. He reached the green in two and sank the putt for a perfect start. Gonzalez then racked up five birdies before finally making his lone bogey of the day at the par-3 eighth hole.
“I feel great because I think is my first time starting the top of the leaderboard and so happy to do that,” said Gonzalez, whose lone PGA Tour Champions win came in 2024 in Morocco. “And especially here on this golf course, very tough in this wind today. I think one of my best day in golf.
“Because this course is narrow, have a lot of bunkers, and I need to keep the ball in the fairway. With this wind, it’s very tough, especially on some holes it’s crosswind, tough to (play). And today I hit a very good tee shot all day, (making it much easier) to make good score.”
Cink’s steady round featured three birdies on each nine surrounding his lone bogey, at the par-4 ninth hole. Cink, a former Open Championship winner, owns five career senior wins, including the Charles Schwab Cup Championship last fall and the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in January.
“This is my first time playing this course, and every day I’ve played it this week it’s been the same wind, the same wind direction,” Cink said. “There’s been very little variance. So we’re getting accustomed to playing this course with this kind of wind direction. Now, if it flipped around and blew the (other) direction, it would be a completely different course, but as it is we’re kind of getting the feel for some of these tee shots and some of the approaches.
“Mostly our game plan was good and I hit a lot of solid shots, gave myself some birdie looks, made my share. Probably could have made a few more, but it was a day I’m pretty pleased with overall.”
–Field Level Media
