SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda (AP) — Alex Noren labored onerous on his wedge recreation and it paid off Thursday within the Butterfield Bermuda Championship with 10-under 61, giving him a two-shot lead amongst early starters on a relaxed day at Port Royal.
With slightly any breeze, Noren took useless intention and used to be dialed in. He set a tournament record with 11 birdies, and his 61 broke through two photographs his lowest rating at the PGA Tour.
Vince Whaley, Dylan Wu and Robert Garrigus had been at 63.
“It was quite easy conditions and there’s a lot of wedges out there,” Noren stated. “But I improved the wedges a lot coming from Japan, where I struggled with them. So I’m very, very happy. It was great to get a 10 under. It was a long time ago I had a really low round.”
His earlier highest used to be a 63 in 2d spherical of the AT&T Byron Nelson final yr.
It used to be the second one instantly week for low scoring at the PGA Tour, coming off a hotel path Tiger Woods designed in Mexico. Erik van Rooyen gained final week at 27-under par.
Van Rooyen, whose highest good friend is within the ultimate months of his struggle with most cancers in Minnesota, made up our minds to withdraw and went to see him. He used to be changed within the Bermuda box through Garrigus, who had won a last-minute sponsor exemption however in the end were given in as a previous excursion winner.
Garrigus hasn’t made the minimize in a PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour match since April 2022, a doubtful stretch of 20 tournaments.
“My short game was perfect today, which I’ve been working on it a little bit, but I can’t say I’ve been working really hard,” Garrigus stated. “I’ve only played a couple times in the past few weeks, maybe a month. … I was just coming out to shake the rust off and have a good time today and I guess I did. It was a lot of fun.”
Port Royal is without doubt one of the shortest lessons at the PGA Tour at 6,828 yards, with the wind off Atlantic thought to be its biggest protection. The wind used to be on holiday, and avid gamers had little resistance a number of the sunshine, hands and island vistas.
The best 125 at the FedEx Cup after subsequent week stay complete PGA Tour playing cards for 2024, and the ones throughout the best 150 no less than have some standing.
Noren and Wu are protected. Whaley and Garrigus are smartly outdoor the highest 150, so this week turns into much more significant.
Adam Long opened with a 66 and collected a small slice of historical past. The fairways in Mexico are monumental, and Long did not leave out one all of final week. He had hit his final two fairways in Las Vegas, after which he hit the primary 11 fairways at Port Royal.
That provides up to 69 in a row. The earlier PGA Tour record used to be 59 instantly fairways.
“Had everyone not come up and said something to me the last 24 hours, I probably wouldn’t think about it as much as I did,” Long stated. “But it was in my mind, for sure, to start. Hit a hybrid on the first and then the second fairway is really hard to hit. Luckily it was kind of into the wind, so I hit a driver and hung in the fairway somehow and perfectly in the middle. So after that I was just kind of coasting.”
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