2021 Honda Classic leaderboard: 3 things to know after Round 1

The first day of play at the 2021 Honda Classic brought a host of surprises for golf fans everywhere. A 40-year-old one-time PGA Tour winner tied the tournament record for lowest score to take the early lead. A player named Koepka is right in the mix, and his first name isn’t Brooks. And on the heels of St. Patrick’s Day, an Irish major winner is sitting pretty near the top of the leaderboard. Here are three things to know after Round 1 at PGA National.

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Jones ties record, takes lead

Matt Jones only has one PGA Tour win on his resume, and it came way back at the 2014 Houston Open when he birdied the first playoff hole to defeat Matt Kuchar. But if the game he flashed on Thursday continues, his second win will come in short order.

Jones fired an incredible nine-under 61 in the opening round, picking apart the difficult Champion course without making a single bogey. The 40-year-old Australian had a four-hole birdie stretch on the front nine, and kicked off a three-hole birdie stretch on the back with a near eagle hole-out at the par-4 16th.

The stellar round, which gave him a three-shot lead, was not only the lowest of Jones’ long career, it also tied the tournament record first set by Brian Harman in 2012 (Tiger Woods shot a 62 the same year).

Brooks’ brother shines

Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka is currently sidelined, having withdrawn from the Players Championship with a knee injury. But another Koepka is making some noise at the Honda Classic, namely Brooks’ younger brother Chase Koepka. Chase has been trying to make it on Tour over the past few years while splitting time on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Latinoamerica.

In four PGA Tour starts in 2020, Chase’s best finish was a T26 at the 3M Open, but after a solid start, he has chance to better that this week. Koepka was on fire to begin the opening round at PGA National, making three birdies over his first six holes. It was good enough to get his big brother to root him on via Twitter.

By the end of the day, Chase had fallen back to one under, leaving him T27 after Round 1.

Sebastian strips

It’s not the first time we’ve seen a pro do this, nor the most extreme version (see: Henrik Stenson), but it’s an odd sight whenever it happens, including on Thursday. This time, the player was Sebastian Cappelen. During the first round, the Danish pro knocked his approach on the 11th hole just into the edge of the greenside lake. Instead of taking a penalty drop, Cappelen chose to strip off much of his clothing, including one shoe and sock, to get into the water and play the shot where it lay.

Thankfully for him, the decision worked out in his favor, as he splashed it like a bunker shot onto the green. The bad news? He took two putts from there to make bogey. The good news? He was able to keep his pants on for the shot, unlike Justin Rose or Andrew “Beef” Johnston.