Matt Jones shot a five-under 67 in windy conditions on Friday to open a three-stroke lead over George McNeill in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open.
Jones, tied with McNeill for the first-round lead, had a bogey-free round to reach 11-under 133 on the Trump International course. The Australian is winless on the PGA Tour.
The wind increased throughout the day, gusting to 37kph in the afternoon.
Photo: AFP
“It started to kick up maybe around the eighth, ninth hole, but compared to yesterday, I didn’t really feel it,” Jones said. “Growing up in Australia, we’re used to playing in the wind. It’s nothing uncommon and I actually, more often than not, enjoy playing in the wind because it makes you not worry about [the] score so much. You worry about hitting the shots one shot at a time and you play a little smarter.”
McNeill had a 70.
Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa, playing the event for the first time after failing to qualify for the World Golf Championship event at Doral, was four strokes back at seven-under after a 67.
“Short game today was very good, and approach shots and putting,” Ishikawa said. “Everything went well. That resulted in birdies and some nice par saves. So, the short game was the key thing.”
He also played in the calmer morning conditions.
“I was lucky, but as I progressed toward the end, the wind got stronger and the conditions got tougher,” Ishikawa said. “But under the strong wind conditions, I understood the difficulty of the course better. So I appreciate the design of the course more now.”
Todd Hamilton shot a 69 to join Ishikawa at seven-under.
Andres Romero (67) was six-under along with Boo Weekley (68), Kevin Stadler (69), Daniel Summerhays (70), Roberto Castro (69) and Kevin Kisner (70).
Michael Bradley, the winner in 2009 and last year, was one-under after a 71.
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