NAPA, Calif. — Justin Thomas scuffled via an uneven afternoon with a 3-under 69 in his return to the PGA Tour following a prolonged layoff, leaving him six pictures off the lead Thursday within the first spherical of the Fortinet Championship.

Thomas, the previous No. 1 participant on this planet who was a captain’s choose for the Ryder Cup, had hoped to scrub up his sport in a last tune-up, however wasn’t practically as sharp at Silverado Resort as he hoped.

Playing for the primary time since ending twelfth on the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Aug. 6, Thomas made 4 birdies and labored round a bogey on the par-4 ninth. He was tied for twentieth, chasing Lucas Herbert, the chief after a 6-under 63.

“Sometimes after some time off it’s hard for me to get back into it but I didn’t feel very competitively rusty,” stated Thomas, who hit three of 14 fairways. “I was very engaged and focused on what I was doing. I just wasn’t exactly doing it how I wanted to.

“I was managing my game. It’s exactly what I did at the Wyndham. Today wasn’t a day with how I hit it I was going to shoot 6- or 7-under. Three under with how I feel I hit it was a great thing.”

Herbert, who took a seven-week psychological break from taking part in, got here again wanting a lot stronger and crisper than Thomas. Herbert had 10 birdies — seven over his last 9 holes — to beat an early bogey.

S.H. Kim was second at 65, He holed out for eagle from 106 yards on the par-4 14th. Kelly Kraft was at 66 with Jason Dufner, Harry Hall, Sung Kang, Zac Blair and Mark Hubbard.

Max Homa, the two-time defending Fortinet champion and U.S. Ryder Cup staff member, endured a tough morning with a double bogey and bogey on his option to becoming a member of Thomas at 69. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson additionally shot 69. Co-captain Stewart Cink, a winner right here in 2020, had a 71.

Herbert, a 27-year-old Australian ranked No. 59 on this planet, wanted a giant spark after getting into the FedEx Fall 152nd in factors. The prime 125 gamers after the seven fall tournaments retain their full PGA Tour playing cards for 2024.

“Found a little groove there,” Herbert stated. “It felt like anything I did poorly seemed to work out nicely for me and the good shots got rewarded as well. Felt like I played OK and just got a lot of good breaks, and capitalized on chances as well.”

Herbert wanted simply 22 putts to complete the spherical within the coronary heart of Northern California’s wine valley. His lone mistake was a bogey on the par-4 sixteenth when he missed a 16-foot putt for par.

In the previous that may have lingered in his thoughts the remainder of the afternoon, however after taking practically two months off to “reset” himself, Herbert stored his cool and received on a roll on the again 9.

“Me two months ago, I probably wouldn’t have shaken that off as much,” Herbert stated. “I would have been a little harder on myself.”

After a birdie on No. 10, Herbert parred No. 11 then rolled off six consecutive birdies earlier than ending his spherical with par on the par-5 18th. The 63 was two pictures shy of the event course report of 61 shared by seven gamers, most just lately Ricky Barnes in 2018. Barnes shot 71 on Thursday.

It was a pleasant means for Herbert to return in his first event since lacking the reduce at The Open on July 23. That was when Herbert determined he wanted to take a sabbatical and clear his thoughts.

During the day off, Herbert stayed in America quite than heading residence to Australia. He traveled to Maine to spend time along with his girlfriend’s household and refrained from golf.

“Just needed to get away from the game and refresh everything,” Herbert stated.

The solely participant from the highest 10 on this planet taking part in within the Fortinet Championship, the seventh-ranked Homa, bumped into bother with a double bogey on No. 4, a 367-yard par 4, after hitting his drive out of bounds and hitting a restoration shot that landed in a greenside bunker.

That pushed Homa additional again into the sphere as he makes an attempt to turn into the primary participant to win a event three straight years since Steve Stricker on the John Deere Classic from 2009 to 2011.

“Just one bad swing that led to a double and then a bad wedge shot that was quite frustrating,” Homa stated. “Other than that, I actually felt like I kept it in front of me pretty good. Didn’t do anything special to get going anywhere, but overall it was solid. I don’t think anything stuck out as overly bad or overly great. It was a decent day.”