Diaz shoots 62 to take lead at John Deere
He birdies four of first five holes; leads by two
SILVIS, Ill. — Roberto Diaz shot a 9-under 62 on Thursday to take the firstround lead in the John Deere Classic.
Playing in the final group of the day off the first tee, the 32-year-old Mexican player birdied four of the first five holes, eagled the par-5 10th and birdied three of the last five in the bogey-free round at TPC Deere Run. He took the lead with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th.
“I just feel that everything clicked,” Diaz said. “I’ve been playing pretty solid throughout the year. The driver has been awesome. I’ve been hitting a lot of fairways, and today I hit good numbers all day, and that helps.”
Winless on the PGA Tour, Diaz tied for eighth at the Travelers Championship last month.
Americans Adam Long and Russell Henley were two strokes back. Martin Laird was another stroke back at 65 with Ryan Palmer, Andrew Landry, Vaughn Taylor, Zack Sucher and Ryan Blaum.
Long, who got his first career win earlier this season at the Desert Classic, had eight birdies — four on the front nine and four on the back nine.
Henley has missed the weekend cuts in his last four straight starts. But he highlighted an impressive birdie run by drilling a 55-foot putt on the par-3 seventh hole.
“I don’t think I’ve ever lost the belief that I can have a nice tournament,” Henley said. “It’s just a matter of a few bumps here and there.”
Scotland’s Laird, who skipped his national tournament this week in an effort to boost his playoff positioning, followed up a 65 to close out last week’s event in Minnesota with birdies on five par 4s on Thursday.
Palmer, the second-highest ranked player in the FedEx Cup standings in the field at No. 22, returned from a monthlong family vacation with a strong round.
Palmer was somewhat inconsistent on his front nine before rallying for three birdies in a five-hole stretch.
“Stress-free today, it felt like. Being off for four weeks, traveling the world a little bit was fun. But I just came into the week just wanting to get my game back going for next week obviously,” Palmer said.
Twenty-year-old rookie Matthew Wolff, who picked up his first career win at the 3M Open last week, opened with a 67. Wolff, the youngest winner on the tour since Jordan Spieth won at Deere Run six years ago, hit 15 greens in regulation and played bogey-free.
“Having that PGA Tour card locked up is a lot of weight off of my shoulders,” Wolff said. “Everything in my game feels really good right now.”
Defending champion Michael Kim, who set the tournament record at Deere Run a year ago by winning by eight shots, had a 73.
CHAMPIONS: In Akron, Ohio, Steve Stricker topped the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship leaderboard at 5 under with a hole to play Thursday when the first round was suspended for the day because of lightning and rain.
Coming off a victory two weeks ago in the U.S. Senior Open at Norte Dame, Stricker had a hole-in-one on the 184yard, par-3 seventh at Firestone Country Club.
Stricker is seeking his third straight major victory on the PGA Tour Champions, a run that began with the Regions Tradition. He’s playing the 50-and-over event instead of going for a fourth victory at the John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour.
Paul Goydos was second at 2 under after five holes.
LPGA: In Sylvania, Ohio, Alena Sharp of Canada and Youngin Chun of South Korea shared the Marathon Classic lead at 7-under 64 on Thursday, a stroke ahead of Stacy Lewis and three others at Highland Meadows Golf Club.
The 38-year-old Sharp, winless on the LPGA Tour, had eight birdies and a bogey.
The 19-year-old Chun, also seeking her first LPGA Tour victory, had a bogey-free round.
Lewis won the last of her 12 LPGA Tour titles in 2017. She was born in nearby Toledo and has an endorsement deal with Marathon Oil.