Justin Leonard holds four-way share of lead after first round of OHL Classic
Saturday 14 November 2015 15:20, UK
Justin Leonard carded a blemish-free 65 to earn a four-way share of the lead after the first round of the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Mexico.
Leonard's six-under score was good enough to move him alongside American compatriots Shawn Stefani and Derek Fathauer and Australian Aaron Baddeley, with another quartet sitting just one shot back in Playa del Carmen.
That group is made up of Michael Thompson, DJ Trahan, Charles Howell III and Patton Kizzire, while Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell is among a large group a shot further back on four under.
Leonard, who moved his family from Dallas to Colorado and plans to play only 12 events this year, is using a one-time exemption from the career top-50 money list.
The 43-year-old former Open champion capitalised on playing before the wind and rain arrived that forced a delay lasting just over an hour, with the first round eventually suspended because of bad light.
McDowell got off to the worst possible start when he blocked his opening drive out of bounds, and his next ball looked to be heading for the same fate but just stayed within the white markers.
The Ryder Cup star managed to scramble a double-bogey, and he then reeled off five straight birdies from the third as he salvaged a battling 67.
"I thought I was going to make about a 12 off the first, shake the lads' hands on the second tee and say, 'See you later,'" McDowell told the Golf Channel. "Golf's a funny game. Sometimes some of your best rounds start off with a bogey or a double."
Scotland's Russell Knox, competing for the first time after claiming his first PGA Tour title and £900,000 at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai on Sunday, shot a one-under 70 and has work to do to make the weekend.
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