NORTON — Surrounded by some Hopkinton homies and assorted friends and family, Jon Curran saw his homecoming on Friday turn sour from the start, the former Hiller chopping up TPC Boston’s front nine with four bogeys, one of them a double, on his way to a lackluster first-round 75, 10 shots off the pace, in the Deutsche Bank Championship.
“I never really got off to a good start,’’ said a disappointed Curran, the former Vanderbilt standout who has gained significant traction on the Tour the last two seasons. “I didn’t get in synch at all with anything. Maybe it kind of started to synch a little bit after 10, 11 holes . . . a disappointing start.’’
Curran opened his round with a par on the first hole, then immediately found trouble, buckets of it, carding a double-bogey 7 on the second hole. He also bogeyed Nos. 3, 5, 8, leaving him 4 over at the turn. He was even on the back nine, but by the time he arrived at the clubhouse, he stood nine strokes off the early pace set by Fabian Gomez and Paul Casey.
“Sometimes it can be tough to play in front of your hometown,’’ said Curran, who last played here during his days at Hopkinton High, where he and pal Keegan Bradley won a state championship. ‘’There’s a little more pressure, especially when I need a decent week to get through [to] next week.’’
Curran was among the 100 players who qualified to play here after last weekend’s The Barclays. Only 70 players will advance to next weekend’s BMW, stage 3 of the playoff trail that leads to the $10 million FedEx pot of gold.
Day’s family in car accident
Jason Day signed his card and scurried off the TPC Boston campus upon learning that his wife and children were involved in a traffic accident near the course.
In a statement by Day, released by PGA officials, his wife Ellie and their two children, Dash and Lucy, as well as a family friend identified only as Katy, “were involved in a traffic accident near our RV.’’
Day did not specify the location, be it town or street, where the accident occurred.
“Their car was hit by a bus,’’ Day noted in his printed statement, made available in the tournament’s media center, “and Ellie was taken to the hospital for precautionary measures. Thankfully, everyone is now resting comfortably and Ellie has been released.’’
Day, born and raised in Australia, said all four will continue to be monitored “in the coming days.’’
“We want to thank the emergency services and hospital for their assistance,’’ said Day, who did not provide the name of the hospital.
Day, ranked No. 1 in the world, carded a 70 for 1 under and is expected back Saturday to play in Round 2. In a hurry to meet with his wife and children, he did not meet with the media after his round.
Rose within range
Olympic gold medalist Justin Rose, who shared the Rio medal stand with Sweden’s Henrik Stenson (silver) and USA’s Matt Kuchar (bronze), carded a 68 (3 under), leaving him amid a crowded field three shots off the pace.
Overall, it was a clean, uneventful round for Rose, the 36-year-old Brit. He birdied No. 2, then strung together 14 consecutive pars before closing with back-to-back birdies, 3-4, on Nos. 17 and 18.
“What’s been amazing to me is the reception,’’ said Rose, reflecting on his win at Rio. “I believe even Kooch and Henrik with the bronze and silver, just being sort of amazed at how many people watched it, how many people were into it. It’s definitely my week in Boston this week and last week at Bethpage [Barclays], the fans have been mad about it.’’
Stenson also finished 3 under, in lockstep with Rose, although his round was slightly choppier. He had a pair of birdies on the front nine, and offset a pair of bogeys with three birdies on the back.
Kuchar finished 1 under for the day.
Long day for Kizzire
Patton Kizzire packed up for the day when Phil Mickelson was mired in his woes and threatening Kizzire for worst round of the day. Kizzire opened his round on No. 10 and was already 4 over after three holes. He ended the day with eight bogeys, including a pair of doubles, and signed for 78 (7 over). The 6-foot-5-inch Kizzire, 30, is from Alabama and was the Web.com Tour’s player of the year in 2015 . . . The first birdie of the day, for which there is no prize, belonged to Daniel Summerhays, who carded a 3 on his opening hole (10). Paul Casey (1) and Ryan Palmer (10), each with 8:27 tee times, recorded the first bogeys . . . The weather forecast looks favorable through Sunday, but residue of Hurricane Hermine could gum up the works for Monday’s championship round . . . A field of 100 qualified for stop No. 2 of the FedEx Cup playoffs, but the field slimmed by three prior to Friday’s first strikes. Danny Willett withdrew for unstated personal reasons. Kevin Na opted out after the birth of his first child on Monday. A bad back kept Alex Cejkafrom making it to the Bay State.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.
