Bryson DeChambeau picked up right where he left off last month, when he claimed his first major title in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
The sixth-ranked DeChambeau tied his career-low score by recording a bogey-free, 9-under-par 62 to take a one-stroke lead over Patrick Cantlay, Harold Varner III, Scott Harrington, NateLashley and Austin Cook after one round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.
“It was a great day to play well,” said DeChambeau, who won the Shriners in 2018 and tied for fourth last year when he closed with a 63. “There’s no wind out here for the most part, and you feel like you can bomb it everywhere and hit wedges close. And I was lucky enough to make a lot of putts to start off my day.
“I’m very pleased with how I played today. Didn’t hit it my best, but I put it in the right spots a lot of the times today. I miss-hit some 3-woods off the tee, but they still went straight and landed in the fairway. A lot of one-handed finishes, something I’m going to go work on, on the range.
“I’m playing well and I feel like I have my golf swing under control and putting well, making a lot of putts.”
DeChambeau, from Clovis in California’s San Joaquin Valley, started at No. 10 and birdies six of the last seven holes on the back nine, and added three more birdies on the front. He missed a 16-foot eagle putt from the fringe on No. 9 in his bid to shoot 61.
Cantlay, from Los Alamitos and UCLA who won the 2017 Shriners and has finished second the last two years, sank a 13-foot birdie putt at No. 18 to cap a 63, which Varner equaled by collecting nine birdies, while Lashley birdied his last four holes to finish a bogey-free round.
Cook earned his share of second with the help of a four-foot eagle putt at No. 15 in another bogey-free round, while Harrington had five birdies on the back nine after starting at No. 10 and capped his bogey-free round with a four-foot birdie putt at No. 9.
James Hahn of Alameda and Cal sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole in a 64 and is tied for seventh with Rob Oppenheim, Brian Stuard, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina, Bronson Burgoon and Andrew Landry.
Defending champion Kevin Na of Diamond Bar, who also won the tournament in 2011, is tied for 21st at 66; while seventh-ranked Webb Simpson, the 2014 Shriners champion, shot 68 and is tied for 59th, and fifth-ranked Collin Morikawa of La Canada Flintridge and Cal is tied for 86th at 69.
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