Brian Stuard, who has never won as a pro, weathered a rain delay to card a bogey-free 8-under-par 64 and take a one-stroke lead over Retief Goosen of South Africa after one round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana.
The 33-year-old Stuard, whose best result on the circuit was a tie for second in the 2013 OHL Classic at Mayakoba, birdied six of the first 10 holes and added two more down the stretch after the rain delay.
“I played pretty well from tee-to-green, but I made a lot of putts,” said Stuard, whose best finish this season was a tie for 25th in the RSM Classic. “I’ve played well here in the past, even though I don’t have any real high finishes.
“During the rain delay, it was just a matter of killing time. When we came back out, the conditions were a little different, the wind was from a different direction. The course played pretty long today, but when you make putts, that makes a difference.
“I felt pretty good last week, but today was a really good day.”
Goosen, the two-time U.S. Open champion, had six birdies on the front nine, but only one more at No. 13 in his bogey-free 65.
Geoff Ogilvy of Australia, the 2006 U.S. Open champion, birdied three of the last six holes to shoot 67 and was tied for third with Charles Howell III, J.J. Henry, Derek Ernst and Patrick Rodgers, the second-year pro from Stanford.
Seung-Yul Noh of South Korea, the 2014 Zurich champion, posted a 68 and was tied for eighth with Rickie Fowler of Murrieta, Danny Lee of New Zealand and Byeong-Hun An of South Korea.
Top-ranked Jason Day recorded a 69 and was tied for 12th.
Charley Hoffman of Poway, who won the Valero Texas Open last week, was still on the course at 3-under through seven holes when darkness halted play. Among the others who will return in the morning to complete the first round is defending champion Justin Rose of England, who was 1-under after six holes.
