Diaz shoots 62, leads at John Deere Classic
SILVIS, Ill. — Mexico’s Roberto Diaz shot a 9-under-par 62 to lead the John Deere Classic by two strokes after Thursday’s opening round.
Playing in the final group of the day off the first tee, the 32-year-old 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.
A pair of Americans were tied for second. Former University of Georgia standout Russell Henley has missed the weekend cuts in his past four starts, but the three-time winner on the PGA Tour highlighted an impressive birdie run by drilling a 55-foot putt on the par-3 7th hole. His 64 was matched by Adam Long, who earned his first career win earlier this season at the Desert Classic. Long made eight birdies Thursday — four on each nine.
Scotland’s Martin Laird, who skipped his national tournament this week in an effort to boost his playoff positioning, was another stroke behind and tied for fourth with Ryan Blaum, Andrew Landry, Ryan Palmer, Zack Sucher and Vaughn Taylor. Palmer is the second-highest ranked player in the FedEx Cup standings in the field at No. 22.
Matthew Wolff, the 20-yearold rookie who picked up his first career win Sunday at the 3M Open, opened with a 67, hitting 15 greens in regulation in a bogey-free round that had him tied for 20th.
Stephan Jaeger, the only one of the four Baylor School golfers on the PGA Tour who started at the tournament, withdrew after playing 10 holes in 7 over. He made a triple bogey on his final hole, the par-5 second.
According to a Twitter post by fantasy sports company Draft Kings, Jaeger’s withdrawal was due to a thumb injury.
Kuchar shares lead
NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — PGA Tour regular Matt Kuchar shot an 8-under 63 to share the lead with three players in a low-scoring opening round at the Scottish Open.
A former Georgia Tech standout with two top-four finishes at this European Tour event, he made two eagles on his first nine and ran off four birdies in five holes to reach 9 under before making a bogey on his last hole of the day, the par-3 ninth. The 41-year-old Kuchar, No. 13 in the World Golf Ranking, shared the lead with Italy’s Nino Bertasio and Edoardo Molinari as well as France’s Romain Wattel.
Seven golfers were tied for fifth.
No. 3 Rory McIlroy and No. 9 Justin Thomas, the highest-ranked players in the event, each opened with a 67 — a score only slightly better than the field average on a day when 118 players broke par at The Renaissance Club. The links course was softened by heavy rain early Thursday morning.
Stricker in command
AKRON, Ohio — Steve Stricker topped the Senior Players Championship leaderboard at 5 under with a hole to play when the first round was suspended for the day because of lightning and rain.
The 52-year-old Stricker, who is coming off a victory two weeks ago in the U.S. Senior Open, made a hole-in-one on the 184-yard, par-3 seventh at Firestone Country Club.
Play was suspended at 12:55 p.m., then called for the day at 5:05 after just more than an inch of rain soaked the course. Stricker was in the middle of the 18th fairway and facing a 140-yard shot on the par-4 hole when play was stopped.
Stricker is seeking his third straight major victory on the PGA Tour Champions, a run that began with the Regions Tradition in May. He is playing the 50-and-older event instead of the John Deere Classic, which he was won four times.
Paul Goydos was second at 2 under after five holes. Nine players were tied for third at 1 under, with Ken Duke (69) the only one in the group to complete his round.
Ooltewah’s Gibby Gilbert III, a regular on the senior circuit, is not in the 78-player field.
Two set early pace
SYLVANIA, Ohio — South Korea’s Youngin Chun and Canada’s Alena Sharp shared a onestroke lead at 7-under 64 after the first round of the Marathon Classic.
The 38-year-old Sharp, winless on the LPGA Tour, had eight birdies and a bogey at Highland Meadows Golf Club. The 19-year-old Chun, also seeking her first LPGA Tour victory, had a bogey-free round.
Jenny Haglund, Stacy Lewis, Caroline Masson and Azahara Munoz were tied for second.
Lewis won the most recent of her 12 LPGA Tour titles in 2017. Although she currently lives in Texas, she was born in nearby Toledo and has an endorsement deal with Marathon Oil.
Four golfers were another stroke back in seventh: U.S. Women’s Open champion Jeongeun Lee6, Carlota Ciganda, Clariss Guce and Lexi Thompson.