Molder grabs Colonial lead after weather delay; Spieth start delayed 75 minutes

A stop-and-start opening round that included six birdies in his final nine holes has propelled Bryce Molder to the top of the leader board at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational.

Molder, who began his round in the first group off the No. 10 tee at 7 a.m., posted nine consecutive pars before catching fire on the front-nine holes following a 91-minute weather delay because lightning was spotted in the area. Molder finished his round with consecutive birdies at Nos. 7, 8 and 9 to post a 6-under par 64 that remains the lowest score among the early finishers today at Colonial Country Club.

“I don’t know if it helped. Maybe so,” Molder said of the delay, which gave him a second chance to warm up before playing the final 12 holes of his round. “I went back out on the range, tinkered here and there, and found a little groove.”

Among the handful of early finishers, Molder is a stroke ahead of Anirban Lahiri, who posted a 65. Most golfers remain on the course and players with afternoon tee times have had those tee times adjusted by 75 minutes.

Among the notables with adjusted afternoon tee times is Dallas resident Jordan Spieth, the No. 2 player in the world golf rankings, begins play at 2:06 p.m. on the first tee. He’ll be joined by Charl Schwartzel and Matt Kuchar in the featured pairing of the afternoon.

Louis Oosthuizen, the No. 13 player in the world rankings, began his afternoon round at 1:55 p.m. following the rain delay. His playing partners are Brendon Todd and Webb Simpson.

Fort Worth resident Tom Hoge, a former TCU golfer making his Colonial debut, will begin his afternoon round at 2:39 p.m. He will be joined by Bryson DeChambeau and Kramer Hickok, the two Champions Choice invitees in this year’s field.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 2:31 PM with the headline "Molder grabs Colonial lead after weather delay; Spieth start delayed 75 minutes."