American Brian Stuard birdied seven of his first 12 holes in windy conditions to take the first-round lead in the Puerto Rico Open on Thursday. He finished with a six-under 66, dropping a stroke on the par-4 seventh hole—his 16th of the day—in gusts of up to 20 mph (32 kph) at Trump International Golf Club-Puerto Rico.
Stuard is the highest-ranked player in the field in the current FedExCup standings at No. 13. This is the first time he has held a first-round lead/co-lead on TOUR. His only other lead after any round on TOUR came at the 2014 Sony Open in Hawaii after round two.
Stuard had three consecutive top-10s early in the season at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba (2nd), the Sony Open in Hawaii (6th) and the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation (5th).
Fellow American Jason Gore and Australian Danny Lee both shot five-under 67 to finish one shot off the lead after the opening round.
Gore was one of two players to have bogey-free rounds, the other one was Jerry Kelly (69.) He birdied 15th and 16th to get to five-under, before going even the final two holes. Gore is looking for his first top 10 on TOUR since a T7 at the 2009 U.S. Bank in Milwaukee.
Lee, who won both the U.S. Amateur and Western Amateur in 2008, had one bogey on the sixth, but made three birdies on the back nine, included the closing hole to finish in the tie for second. His only top 10 on Tour in 52 career starts is a T7 at the 2009 AT&T National.
A contingent of seven players are two shots back after shooting four-under 68, including 2009 PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang, 2009 U.S. Open runner-up Ricky Barnes and 2013 Web.com Tour’s Mr Consistency, Ben Martin.
Germany’s Alex Cejka, who won the Web.com Tour opener three weeks ago, is one of a whopping 21 players tied for 11th at three-under 69. Also on that group are 2012 PR Open winner George McNeill, Bud Cauley and Spaniards Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Alvaro Quiros.
Other notables, last year winner Scott Brown shot a two-under 70 and is T-32nd in a group that includes Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa, Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts and Argentine Miguel Angel Carballo—the highest placing for a Latin American player on the first round.
Puerto Rican Amateur Erik Morales shot a one-under 71 and sits T-44th. Puerto Rico native Amaury Nolasco who plays Fernando Sucre in the hit series Prison Break is caddying for Morales, who earned a spot in the field via a sponsor exemption.
In 2013, Morales was the Amateur Champion of the Puerto Rico Golf Association. Last year he competed in one NEC Series—PGA TOUR Latinoamérica event, Puerto Rico Classic presented by Merrill Lynch, as an amateur, and failed to make the cut. This is his second appearance at the Puerto Rico Open, his first was in 2010.
Brooks Koepka, the highest ranked player in the field at No. 70 in the Official World Golf Rankings, shot an even-par 72 in round one.
Amateur Austen Truslow shot a 4-over 76 in the first round. The University of Virginia commitment is a Florida High School Senior. He earned a spot in the field this week after winning the American Junior Golf Association’s Puerto Rico Open in January.