Peter Uihlein struggled in his first three outings of the new season, but now he leads after the first round of a PGA Tour event for the first time.
The 29-year-old Uihlein shot 8-under-par 63 to take a one-stroke lead over Seth Reeves after one round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin https://tpc.com/summerlin/ in Las Vegas.
“I was really bad the first few tournaments this year, at least starting off,” said Uihlein, who missed the cut in the Safeway Open before he was 69th in a 78-man field at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia and 55th out of 78 at the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges in South Korea. “I got really lazy and complacent and wasn’t mentally sharp enough for what I needed to be to be able to compete out here.
“So this week it was just more or less trying to work on my mindset a little bit, mental game, and see where that approach takes me. I needed to get back to work and be a lot more focused and disciplined. I didn’t expect to see results like this quick, but it’s nice.”
Uihlein, who has never won on the PGA Tour but captured the 2013 Madeira Island Open on the European Tour and the 2017 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship on the Web.com Tour, collected nine birdies in his round, including four in a row through the turn and six of his last nine holes.
Reeves birdied five of his first eight holes after starting his 64 on the back nine, while Harold Varner III birdied seven of his last 11 holes in a 65 and is tied for third with Robert Streb, who holed his second shot from 58 yards for an eagle on the 15th hole en route to his 65.
Sixth-ranked Bryson DeChambeau carded a bogey-free 66 and is tied for sixth with Jordan Spieth, Si Woo Kim of South Korea, Sebastian Munoz of Colombia, Sam Ryder, Whee Kim of South Korea, and Abraham Ancer of Mexico.
Ninth-ranked Rickie Fowler is tied for 19th at 68 and defending champion Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and UCLA shot 69 and is tied for 32nd.
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