Fowler among notables off to strong start at Fort Worth Invitational

You can't win the tournament on Thursday, but you can certainly lose it.

Rickie Fowler is one of this week's notables to take the old adage to heart, setting up his Fort Worth Invitational nicely with an opening round 3-under 67.

Fowler's five birdies in Round 1 put him at 4-under with one hole to play, but an errant tee shot caused him to finish his day with a disappointing bogey.

The 29-year-old, who is playing at Colonial Country Club for the first time since 2014, said "it's great to be back" in a post-round interview and cited scheduling conflicts as the reason for his absence in recent years.

Playing alongside Fowler in Round 1 was Jon Rahm, who also got off to a solid start, firing a 2-under 68 and carding five birdies in first-round action.

Rahm stuck to his guns over a bomb-and-gouge strategy at Colonial, a venue that historically rewards accuracy over distance.

The 23-year-old is tied for second in driving distance for the event, while only hitting 50 percent of fairways.

Charley Hoffman recorded the lowest round of Thursday's morning wave, signing for a 7-under 63.

Meanwhile, Jordan Spieth sits seven shots back of the lead after an opening-round 70.

Fowler and Rahm will kick off their second rounds Friday at 1:55 p.m. ET with Spieth and Hoffman teeing off at 2:06 p.m. ET and 2:17 p.m. ET, respectively.