Davis Riley produced a bogey-free opening round to claim a share of the lead alongside Will Gordon after the opening day of the Sanderson Farms Championship on Thursday.
Mississippi-native Riley carded a six-under-par 66 including four birdies in his first seven holes to set the pace at the Country Club of Jackson.
Riley he also holed an 18-foot putt for birdie on the 17th, backing up his birdie on the 16th for a strong opening round.
Gordon, who was among the last to finish on the opening day, came in strong with three birdies in his final five holes. He sunk a 23-foot birdie putt on the ninth.
Back-to-back birdies give @DavisRiley68 sole possession of the lead at -6 pic.twitter.com/dp3hdI93ph
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 29, 2022
Seven players are tied at five-under, including tour rookie Brandon Matthews who finished his round with back-to-back birdies to card 67.
Matthews is tied with Andrew Putnam, Kevin Yu, Mark Hubbard, Thomas Detry, Trevor Cone and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, the latter fresh from his Presidents Cup debut.
Among the day’s highlights were aces on the fourth hole to Brandon Wu, who is three-under-overall, and M.J. Daffue, who had just double bogeyed the par-five third hole.
Reigning champion Sam Burns carded a bogey-free two-under-par 70, while one of the pre-tournament favourites Denny McCarthy is a further stroke behind after birdieing his final two holes.
Sahith Theegala (one over), Russell Henley (two over) and J.T. Poston (four over) struggled on the opening day, with the latter carding four bogeys and one double bogey in the par-four 12th.
🚨 ACE ALERT 🚨
The second ace of the day at No. 4 came as a 𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 pleasant surprise for @MJDaffue13 😅 pic.twitter.com/DkzE8ZTkTi
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 29, 2022
Source: Livescore