While many of the world’s best are teeing it up at Doral, a full field is in Puerto Rico this week in search of valuable FedEx Cup points. Here’s how things look after the first round of the Puerto Rico Open, where Brian Stuard sits atop the leaderboard, in search of his first career win:
Leaderboard: Brian Stuard (-6), Jason Gore (-5), Danny Lee (-5), Ricky Barnes (-4), Y.E. Yang (-4), Chesson Hadley (-4), William McGirt (-4)
What it means: Stuard was a runner-up in Mayakoba and has two other top-10 finishes to his credit this season, so it’s no surprise to see his name once again on the leaderboard. He holds a slim lead through one round over Gore, a previous winner on Tour, and Lee, who captured the U.S. Amateur six years ago.
Round of the day: Stuard found only 11 of 18 greens in regulation Thursday at Trump International, but was able to turn seven of those opportunities into birdies, including five on the inward half. The 31-year-old dropped only one shot during his opening round and was able to notch four birdies in a five-hole stretch from Nos. 11-15.
Best of the rest: It’s been more than eight years since Gore captured his lone PGA Tour title and almost nine years since he played in the final pairing Sunday at the 2005 U.S. Open. He carded five birdies without dropping a shot Thursday, and as a result now sits in prime position as he looks for his first top-10 finish on the PGA Tour since 2009 at the now-defunct U.S. Bank Championship.
Biggest disappointment: At No. 70 in the latest world rankings, Brooks Koepka entered as the highest-ranked player in this week’s event. The former Florida State standout notched four birdies on his opening round but countered that effort with four bogeys en route to an even-par 72. As a result, Koepka will tee off in the second round among a tie for 61st, in need of a solid round simply to survive the 36-hole cut.
Main storyline heading into Friday: Stuard has been playing some solid golf of late, but it will be interesting to see if Gore or Lee - who missed six straight cuts prior to this week - can build upon the momentum they created Thursday. A large group of players sit just two shots off the pace, including Yang, the 2009 PGA Champion, Hadley, who won the Web.com Tour Championship last September, and Barnes, among the best players still in search of a first career PGA Tour win.
