Sucher soars to PGA lead thanks to nine birdies

American Zack Sucher fired nine birdies and no bogeys for 18 points to seize a three-point edge over countryman Patrick Rodgers after Thursday's first round of the PGA Barracuda Championship.

The 28-year-old tour rookie had four birdies on the front nine and birdied five of the first seven holes on the back nine to grab the lead in the unique tournament, which features a Modified Stableford scoring system assigning point values to shots rather than registering a score relative to par. Rodgers had eight birdies and a bogey to stand second on 15 with another US player, Ricky Barnes, on 14 points after eight birdies and two bogeys. Most of golf s top players are at the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational this week at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, as a final tuneup for next week s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.