DES MOINES, Iowa — Thongchai Jaidee ensured there would only be one leader after Friday’s opening round of the 2021 Principal Charity Classic.
Jaidee birdied the 9th, his last hole of the day, to wrap up a first-round 65 at Wakonda Club, good for 7-under. He holds a one-shot lead over Dicky Pride and Doug Barron, who both carded 6-under 66s. Six others are at 5-under and six more are at 4-under.
For Jaidee, a 51-year-old from Thailand, his 65 is a career-low. He carded an eagle on the Par-5 15th, then bounced back from back-to-back bogies with three straight birdies on Nos. 5-8. He ended with another birdie on No. 9 to take the outright lead into Saturday of the 54-hole event.
Pride — who was paired with Scott Parel, the runner-up at the 2019 Principal Charity Classic — registered seven birdies on the day, including three in four holes between Nos. 5-8. If not for a bogey on the Par-3 No. 14, which came sandwiched between birdies on both 13 and 15, the 51-year-old would’ve been tied with Jaidee.
Barron put together an almost identical first round to Pride. The 51-year-old rattled off four consecutive birdies on Nos. 5-8 to go 4-under on the front nine and also sandwiched a bogey between birdies on Nos. 13 and 15.
But if history has revealed anything, it’s that this remains anybody’s tournament with 36 holes still to play.
Back in 2019, Kevin Sutherland erased an eight-shot deficit with a course-record 62 on Sunday, then prevailed over Parel in a two-hole playoff.
Entering the weekend, 12 other golfers are within at least three shots of Jaidee, including many of the stars who are competing here this weekend.
Fred Couples, a 1992 Masters champion, is at 5-under after a bogeyless opening round. Joe LaCava, longtime looper for the likes of Ken Green, world No. 1 Dustin Johnson and since 2011, one Tiger Woods, is back inside the ropes carrying a golf bag. LaCava has reunited with Couples at Wakonda. The two teamed up for 12 PGA Tour titles, including the 1992 Masters.
Among the others tied at 5-under are Jerry Kelly, who finished third here in 2019, and Rod Pampling, who birdied four of his first nine holes.
At 4-under, Bernhard Langer and Jim Furyk, among others. Langer rallied from three bogies on his first five holes to card an eagle on the Par-5 15 to get back to even. He followed with a birdie on No. 18, then three more after the turn. Furyk shot bogey free, and notched three birdies on his second nine to creep up the leaderboard.
Behind them, more stars.
Mike Weir stumbled with two bogeys on the back nine to finished 2-under, while Alex Cejka, winner of the two senior major championships so far this year, finished with two birdies to stay level with Weir. Ernie Els navigated a hot-and-cold round, where he recorded eight birdies, five bogeys and a double, to finish 1 under.
Jay Haas, a three-time winner here, sat at 1 over until a birdie on 15 gave him an even round. Vijay Singh went from 2 under to 3 over in the span of seven holes (he finished 2 over). John Smoltz, the Hall of Fame pitcher, shot even, but was later disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard (Rule 3.3b).
Golfweek’s Steve DiMeglio contributed to this article.