Varner, Hoge, Sloan share Wyndham lead
Leaders seeking first victory on PGA Tour
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Harold Varner III, Tom Hoge and Roger Sloan each shot 8-under-par 62 on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Wyndham Championship, the PGA Tour’s final regular-season event before the Fedex Cup playoffs.
Varner started the golow parade at at Sedgefield Country Club with an eight-birdie, no-bogey round that matched his best on tour. Hoge and Sloan, playing together, followed suit later in the round. Hoge also matched his career low, while Sloan’s score set his personal best.
All three leaders are seeking their first tour wins. Thirty-three players were on the course who had not finished when the round was suspended due to bad weather.
Hoge looked like he might have a shot at 59 after he went eagle-birdie on the 15th and 16th holes to reach 9 under. But he missed a 10-footer for birdie on the 17th before his lone bogey on No. 18 to drop into the tie.
Sloan had birdies on the 16th and 17th holes and had a chance at 9 under to take the lead alone but came up short on a 15-foot birdie try on the final hole.
■ LPGA: At North Berwick, Scotland, Danielle Kang started her bid for a third straight tour win with an even-par 71 in the first round of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, leaving the No. 2-ranked Las Vegas resident four shots off Nicole Broch Larsen’s clubhouse lead.
Broch Larsen held a one-shot lead over five others. In the 144-player field, 27 had yet to complete their round when play was suspended because of darkness. Kang is aiming to be the first player since Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016 to win three straight tour events.
■ champions: At Akron, Ohio, Steve Stricker birdied the final hole for a 2-under 68 and a share of the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship with Jerry Kelly, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Wes Short Jr. and
Rod Pampling. Paul Broadhurst was the lone other player to break par in the tour’s first major of the season, shooting 69.
■ European PGA: At Newport, Wales, Alexander Levy became the first golfer to test positive for COVID-19 at a tour event, and fellow Frenchman Romain Wattel also had to withdraw from the Celtic Classic after having had contact with Levy. Thomas Pieters shot a 7-under 64 for a one-stroke lead.
■ USGA: At Bandon, Ore., qualifying medalist Wilson Furr, a 22-yearold rising Alabama senior from Jackson, Mississippi, advanced to the second round of U.S. Amateur match play by beating China’s Aaron Du 6 and 4.