Brendan Steele carded an eagle on his first hole en route to a bogey-free 8-under-par 62 that gave him a one-stroke lead over Bud Cauley and Ryan Moore after one round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn.
The 31-year-old Steele, who is from Idyllwild and played at UC Riverside, holed out with a wedge from 129 yards at No. 1 and added birdies on six of the first 13 holes before finishing with five consecutive pars.
“On 14, I started to think 59, which is probably why I slowed down a little bit,” said Steele, who claimed his only PGA Tour victory in the 2011 Valero Texas Open. “We got started in the rain this morning, rained pretty good for the first probably 10 holes or so.
“Normally not a very good rain player, but came out and holed my second shot on the first hole, so I guess that gives me a little better feeling in the rain. I hit it pretty close on the next hole, so was 3-under pretty quick and was able to just kind of ride that momentum the whole day.”
The course record at TPC River Highlands is 60, set by Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and UCLA as an amateur in 2011.
Cauley, 24, who is winless as a pro, started on the back nine and drove the 15th green before holing a 20-foot putt for eagle, and had six birdies and a bogey in his 63.
Moore, who has won three times on the PGA Tour since leaving UNLV, collected six birdies and an eagle on the sixth hole, where he sank a 10-foot putt.
Chad Campbell, who has won four times on the PGA Tour but not since the 2007 Viking Classic, shot 64 and was tied for fourth with Joe Durant, Jeff Maggert, Scott Langley and Eric Axley.
Sergio Garcia of Spain had six birdies on the back nine en route to a 65 and was tied for ninth with defending champion Ken Duke, Brandt Snedeker, K.J. Choi of South Korea, Doug LaBelle, Brooks Koepka and Brad Fritsch.
Patrick Rodgers, the All-American from Stanford who was No. 1 in the college and world amateur rankings, opened with a 66 in his first event as a pro and was in a tie for 16th that included Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Keegan Bradley.
