Despite posting birdies on eight of his 10 opening holes, Ben Kohles trailed Ben Silverman in Bermuda with two left to play during Thursday’s opening round.
The duo now carries a share of the clubhouse lead with Danny Walker at 8 under after Kohles birdied the par-5 17th which was good for his 11th circle on the day.
Silverman carded a bogey-free 63 at Port Royal Golf Course. Kohles’ first 18 holes were not nearly as clean.
While any round with double-digit birdies is a massive success, Kohles did give three shots back — one at the par-4 fourth hole that went on to kick-start a spree of six straight birdies at Nos. 5-10. He bogeyed another par-4 — the 383-yard 12th — on his back nine before missing a par putt at No. 16 for his final blemish of the day.
Every shot matters a little extra this fall for the 36-year-old Kohles, who sits tied with a one-shot lead over Jonathan Byrd, Chan Kim and Mackenzie Hughes after signing his 63.
Kohles was at a crossroads when he opted for the PGA Tour’s inaugural Biltmore Championship last month. He sat 17th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list when he made the decision to bet on himself — in an attempt to stay inside the top 100 on the FedExCup points list.
He is No. 80 after a trio of finishes inside the top 20. Kohles placed T-15 in North Carolina, T-13 at the Bank of Utah Championship and T-17 at the Baycurrent Classic in Japan two weeks ago.
“I looked it at like, I could play the last three Korn Ferry events and miss the first three in the fall and lock up my card. At the same time, I’ve been doing this long enough,” Kohles said with a chuckle during his week off. “The money is one thing — it’s a little more on the PGA Tour — but knowing how I was playing, I thought I could move up in the fall standings.”
Walker, 31, is the youngest of the players currently in the tournament’s top five after posting a bogey-free 30 on his first nine holes in Bermuda thanks to an eagle at the par-5 17th. He and Kohles are both University of Virginia alums.
Byrd, a five-time PGA Tour winner, is the veteran of the group at 48 years old. He last won on the PGA Tour in the 2011 Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
An eagle at the par-5 seventh hole propelled Byrd to a 6-under 30 on the front nine. He was bogey-free through 15 holes before missing a par putt at the same par 3 that tripped up Kohles.
Hughes, 35, is looking to snap a four-year winless drought this week in Bermuda. He started at the 10th hole on Thursday, posting par across the first five holes. He was dominant the rest of the way, finding birdies at Nos. 15 and 17 before posting a 4-under 31 across the final nine holes — good for a bogey-free 64.
Hughes and Silverman give the current top five a pair of Canadians. The 38-year-old Silverman has never won on Tour, with his last title coming at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Bahamas Great Abaco Classic in January 2023.
In his opening round in Bermuda, Silverman carded three straight birdies on his front nine at Nos. 5-7 and did it again on the back at Nos. 13 through No. 15. He parred his final three holes to maintain his 8 under.
Kim got in at 7-under to tie Hughes and Byrd without a single bogey on his card. The 36-old American last won on the KFT in August 2023.
