Day leads early Aussie PGA charge in Vegas

Australia's Jason Day is three strokes off the lead at the PGA event in Las Vegas, trailing American Tom Hoge after round one at TPC Summerlin.

JASON DAY.
JASON DAY. Picture: Matt Roberts/Getty Images

Jason Day has shot a five-under 66 to be three shots off the pace after the opening round of the PGA Tour event in Las Vegas.

The 34-year-old Queenslander is in a tie for 11th at the TPC Summerlin, trailing American Tom Hoge who took advantage of pristine conditions on Thursday morning.

Day, who has 12 PGA wins to his name, enjoyed a blemish-free first 18 holes. He birdied the sixth, ninth and 16th, and eagled the par-5 13th.

Fellow Australians Lucas Herbert, Harrison Endycott and Cam Davis are one shot back after shooting 67s while Ryan Ruffels brings home the field after a six-over 77.

Hoge did better than he expected in Nevada, making two eagles and no bogies on his way to an eight-under 63 for a one-shot lead.

South Korea's Si Woo Kim was tied for second with Maverick McNealy of the US after their 64s, while defending champion Sungjae Im joined compatriot Tom Kim in a seven-man group at six under.

Patrick Cantlay, who has a win and two runner-up finishes in his four appearances at the TPC Summerlin, had to settle for a 67.

The low round for Hoge was unexpected because he had been fishing off the coast of Mexico the last two weeks, wanting to put the golf clubs away after a long season. He was in the mix for a Presidents Cup pick, though the oversight was not a surprise because he hadn't played well enough since his inaugural PGA Tour victory at Pebble Beach in early February.

"I didn't know where things would stand coming out today," Hoge said.

He holed a 25-foot birdie putt on No.6, then hit a wedge from 110 yards on No.7 that hit the middle of the pin and crashed into the left side of the cup for eagle.

He followed with three more birdies over the next four holes, and then picked up a bonus with fast eagle putt on the 16th.

"It was an interesting day," Hoge said.

"I feel like I missed some very makeable birdie putts, but I holed some real nice, long ones for eagle on 16 and some other long ones. Certainly happy with the score, but I've got to make a lot of birdies the next few days."

With AP.