SILVIS, Unwell. — Doug Ghim holed out for eagle on the par-4 sixth gap and saved bogeys off his card on a day of low scoring Thursday. He opened with a 9-under 62 in a bid to turn into the newest first-time PGA Tour winner on the John Deere Basic.
Ghim had a one-shot lead over Max Homa and Austin Eckroat on the TPC Deere Run, the place the successful rating has been 20-under par or decrease 12 of the final 15 years.
He has been round lengthy sufficient – six years on the PGA Tour, 160 tour begins as a professional – to know it is solely a begin. The circumstances had been so splendid Ghim wasn’t even certain his 62 would maintain up because the lead by the tip of the day.
With just a little extra wind within the afternoon, the most effective anybody might do was 65 by 4 gamers, together with Cameron Champ and Mexico Open winner Brian Campbell.
“Truthfully, any time you may get to twenty beneath or higher you are going to have an opportunity,” Ghim stated. “It is nonetheless golf. It is nonetheless a problem. It’s important to hit fairways. I hit loads of them right this moment. So simply making an attempt to shoot forwards of 6 beneath each day and see the place that places me.”
Aldrich Potgieter of South Africa, the 20-year-old coming off his first PGA Tour win final week in Detroit, was difficult for the lead till he stalled on the finish of his spherical, took bogey on the par-5 seventeenth and needed to accept a 67.
The John Deere Basic has produced 24 first-time winners, essentially the most of any PGA Tour occasion since 1970, a listing that included Davis Thompson final yr, Bryson DeChambeau in 2017 and Jordan Spieth in 2013.
Homa and Eckroat have received earlier than, and each are attempting to rediscover their video games. Homa will get essentially the most consideration, significantly since he performed within the final Ryder Cup and reached No. 8 on this planet till going right into a stoop that features new tools, a brand new coach and new caddie.
Eckroat received twice in 2024 nevertheless it has been a battle this yr. He ended final yr at No. 35 on this planet and now could be at No. 75, leaving him out of the final two majors. He has but to complete within the prime 10 in 19 begins this yr.
Homa ran off 4 straight birdies early and was tied with Ghim for the lead till he missed his remaining inexperienced at No. 9 right into a bunker and didn’t get up-and-down, his solely bogey of the spherical. Eckroat had a pair of eagles, one on the par-5 second with a shot to 12 toes, the opposite when he holed out with a spot wedge from 137 yards on the par-4 fifth gap.
Scoring was so low that 18 gamers had been at 65 or higher, and greater than half of the 156-man subject broke 70..
Michael Kim and Sam Stevens had been a part of the group at 64. Kim was a type of first-time winners in 2018 when he completed at 27-under 257 to win by eight pictures. After which he regressed within the worst approach, even going again to the Korn Ferry Tour, earlier than connecting with swing coach Sean Foley and turning his recreation round.
Kim and Stevens are amongst gamers who might use a superb match to enhance their world rating, which will probably be used subsequent week because the alternate record for the British Open. Kim is at No. 55 on this planet and would seem like in affordable form.
It will be Kim’s first time enjoying all 4 majors in the identical yr.
