SILVIS, Sick. — Doug Ghim holed out for eagle on the par-4 sixth gap and stored 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 profitable 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 situations had been so excellent Ghim wasn’t even positive his 62 would maintain up because the lead by the top of the day.
With a little bit 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 will get to twenty beneath or higher you are going to have an opportunity,” Ghim stated. “It is nonetheless golf. It is nonetheless a problem. You must hit fairways. I hit numerous them right this moment. So simply making an attempt to shoot forwards of 6 beneath day by 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, an inventory that included Davis Thompson final yr, Bryson DeChambeau in 2017 and Jordan Spieth in 2013.
Homa and Eckroat have gained earlier than, and each try to rediscover their video games. Homa will get essentially the most consideration, notably since he performed within the final Ryder Cup and reached No. 8 on the earth till going right into a droop that features new tools, a brand new coach and new caddie.
Eckroat gained twice in 2024 but it surely has been a wrestle this yr. He ended final yr at No. 35 on the earth 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 ultimate 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 niche 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 area 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 photographs. After which he regressed within the worst manner, 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 very good event to enhance their world rating, which will likely be used subsequent week because the alternate record for the British Open. Kim is at No. 55 on the earth and would seem like in affordable form.
It might be Kim’s first time taking part in all 4 majors in the identical yr.
