Merritt, Fowler share lead at storm-hit PGA event

WASHINGTON: Americans Rickie Fowler and Troy Merrit each fired seven-under par 64s to share the lead when darkness fell in Thursday’s storm-hit opening round of the US PGA 3M Open.

Fowler produced his lowest score of the year in a bogey-free round to share the top spot at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota.

A lightning delay of two hours and 24 minutes prevented the round from being completed, with the final five groups forced to complete the first round on Friday morning. Scot Stallings and Adam Schenk shared third on 65 with fellow Americans Chris Baker and Chez Reavie on 66.

Venezuela’s Jhonatan Vegas was on 6-under with the 18th hole to finish while Canada’s Roger Sloan, a back-nine starter, was on 6-under with two holes to complete.

Former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa shot 68 while two-time major winner Dustin Johnson opened on 70.

World number 104 Fowler, 32, chases his sixth US PGA title and first since the 2019 Phoenix Open while 90th-ranked Merrit, 35, seeks his third tour crown and first since the 2018 Barbasol Championship.

Ater starting on the back nine with a birdie put from just outside six feet, Fowler holed a par put at 11 from just inside eight feet. He tapped in for birdie at the par-5 12th, dropped his approach to six feet seting up a birdie at 15.

Fowler birdied the par-5 18th to launch a run of three birdies in a row, holing puts of 30 feet at the first and 14 feet at the second and adding another from 13 feet at the par-5 sixth. He closed a bogey-free round with three pars.

SHOOTOUT IN STORE: Fowler ranks 124th on the US PGA season points list, barely in a playoff spot with two weeks remaining in the campaign.

Merrit birdied the second and sixth holes before closing the front nine with a bogey, then made six birdies on the back nine, the longest among them from 25 feet at the par-3 13th and 23 feet at the par-4 15th. he closed with back-to-back birdie puts from just inside five feet to share the lead.