Golf

DeChambeau picks up where he left off with 62 in Las Vegas

US Open champion says it’s a course where he feels he can ‘bomb it everywhere’

Bryson DeChambeau hits his tee shot on the ninth hole during round one of the Shriners Hospitals For Children Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Fri Oct 9 2020 - 06:42

US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau fired the lowest opening round of his PGA Tour career to grab the lead after the first round at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas on Thursday.

DeChambeau, in his first start since his major breakthrough three weeks ago, birdied five consecutive holes over a sizzling stretch around the turn en route to a nine-under-par 62 at TPC Summerlin that left him with a one-stroke lead.

“It was a great day to play well,” said DeChambeau, who won the event in 2018. “There’s no wind out here for the most part and I feel like you can bomb it everywhere and get wedges close. And I was lucky to make a lot of putts.”

World number six DeChambeau started on the back nine and was two under before he kicked into high gear at the Par 4 15th, the start of an impressive run where only one of his five consecutive birdie putts was from outside five feet.

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A seven-times winner on the PGA Tour, DeChambeau finished strong with tap-in birdies at the Par 4 seventh and Par 5 ninth holes.

Nipping at his heels were fellow Americans Austin Cook, Harold Varner III, Scott Harrington, Patrick Cantlay and Nate Lashley, all tied for second in a tightly packed field after each carding an eight-under-par 63.

Among the big names who went out early were world number seven Webb Simpson (68) and PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa (69), the world number five and highest-ranked player in the field.

Defending champion Kevin Na finished the day four strokes back from the lead with a five-under par 66 and Sergio Garcia, fresh off his triumph last week in Mississippi, carded a four-under par 67.

Collated first round scores in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, TPC Summerlin, United States of America (USA unless stated, par 71):

62 Bryson DeChambeau

63 Harold Varner III, Austin Cook, Scott Harrington, Nate Lashley, Patrick Cantlay

64 Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Brian Stuard, Rob Oppenheim, Andrew Landry, James Hahn, Bronson Burgoon

65 Zach Johnson, Sepp Straka (Aut), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Brian Harman, Michael Gligic (Can), Cameron Davis (Aus), Martin Laird (Sco), Brice Garnett

66 Peter Malnati, Matthew NeSmith, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Vaughn Taylor, Fabian Gomez (Arg), Kevin Na, Abraham Ancer (Mex), Denny McCarthy, Sergio Garcia (Spa), Camilo Villegas (Col), Cameron Tringale

67 Adam Schenk, Andrew Putnam, Matt Jones (Aus), Robby Shelton, Ryan Palmer, Adam Hadwin (Can), Tom Lewis (Eng), Cameron Champ, Si Woo Kim (Kor), Wyndham Clark, Sean O’Hair, Russell Henley, Rickie Fowler, Will Gordon, JT Poston, Henrik Norlander (Swe), Rory Sabbatini (Svk), Matt Kuchar, Stewart Cink, Hunter Mahan, Brendan Steele, Joel Dahmen, Sam Burns, Patton Kizzire, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa), Brandt Snedeker, Sungjae Im (Kor)

68 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Jason Kokrak, Scott Stallings, Will Zalatoris, Webb Simpson, Chez Reavie, Richy Werenski, Talor Gooch, Xinjun Zhang (Chn), Joseph Bramlett, Sebastian Munoz (Col), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa), Nick Taylor (Can), Jason Day (Aus), Luke List, Justin Suh, Matthew Wolff, Pat Perez, Jason Dufner, Sung Kang (Kor), Scott Piercy, Harris English, Kristoffer Ventura (Nor), Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Harry Higgs, Cheng-Tsung Pan (Tai), Troy Merritt

69 Carlos Ortiz (Mex), Brian Gay, Aaron Wise, Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Charles Howell III, Jamie Lovemark, Doc Redman, Bol Van Pelt, Kevin Tway, Craig Hocknull (Aus), Beau Hossler, Chesson Hadley, Lanto Griffin, Kevin Streelman, Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Paul Casey (Eng), John Huh, Keith Mitchell, Luke Donald (Eng)

70 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Charley Hoffman, Kyle Stanley, Mark Hubbard, MJ Daffue (Rsa), George Markham, Kevin Chappell, Tom Hoge, Keegan Bradley, D.A. Points, Danny Lee (Nzl), Cameron Smith (Aus), Parker Coody, Ryan Armour, Kyung Ju Choi (Kor), Russell Knox (Sco), Tyler Duncan

71 Nick Watney, Ted Potter, Jr., Jimmy Walker, Zac Blair

72 Chase Seiffert, Maverick McNealy, J.B. Holmes, Michael Kim, Kyoung-hoon Lee (Kor)

73 Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn), Kevin Stadler, Sam Ryder, Patrick Rodgers

74 Max Homa, Martin Trainer, Tyler McCumber, Graham DeLaet (Can), Bol Hoag

75 Spencer Levin, Hudson Swafford

76 Scott Brown

78 Matt Wilson