Canadian Hughes surges to lead at RSM Classic

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Georgia — Five tournaments into his rookie season on the PGA Tour, Mackenzie Hughes has the 36-hole lead at Sea Island and expects a few nerves.

That weekend he spent with Phil Mickelson should at least help.

The 25-year-old from Dundas, Ont., had another bogey-free round Friday and took care of the par 5s on the Plantation Course for a 5-under 67, giving him a two-shot lead over C.T. Pan going into the weekend of the RSM Classic, the final PGA Tour event of the year.

Hughes was at 14-under 128. Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch (64) is tied for 50th at 6-under and Nick Taylor (71) of Abbotsford is tied for 63rd at 5-under.

Pan also is a rookie, and perhaps they can take inspiration from rookie Cody Gribble winning in Mississippi three weeks ago. Hughes and Pan both spent last year on the Web.com Tour to earn their cards.

“There’s going to be nerves [today], and I’m going to be a little jittery starting out, but that’s completely natural,” Hughes said. “But I just think guys come off the Web.com Tour that … for example, I won in Missouri, and I feel like the win translates to being able to win out here. The margin is so small that the things I did on that weekend to win that tournament are the same things I’ll have to do [today] and Sunday.”

Hughes started his rookie season in the Safeway Open, made the cut and wound up in the same group with Mickelson, who attracted the largest gallery.

“The atmosphere was a dream start for me,” Hughes said. “We played the first day, and I had a nine-footer on 19 for par to make par and stay tied with him. I was so pumped that I made it because I got one more round out of it. He was a super nice guy, really welcoming.”

There wasn’t much of a gallery at Sea Island on another pristine day for scoring, so ideal that the cut came at 5-under par. That probably won’t change for the weekend, especially with tournament host Davis Love III and Sea Island neighbours Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar among those missing the cut.

Even so, it was an experience that could come in handy for Hughes.

“Being with him for two days and with his galleries and all the distractions going on there, that’s probably as good a preparation as you would have for [today] and Sunday,” Hughes said. “There was so much learning going on that weekend that I’ll be able to apply.”

It was the lowest cut on the PGA Tour since 5-under at the 2015 Zurich Classic.

Hughes opened with a 9-under 61 on the Seaside course at Sea Island. While he didn’t hit the ball as cleanly over at Plantation, he had few complaints. He picked up three of his birdies at the par 5s.