Harrison Frazar got off to a hot start and leads the Dominion Energy Charity Classic after the first round Friday in Richmond, Va.
Despite the interruption from a rain delay, Frazar made five of his seven birdies on the front nine at the Country Club of Virginia on his way to posting a bogey-free, 7-under 65.
That was good for a two-shot lead over Paul Goydos and Australia’s Richard Green.
“I hit a few good shots early,” Frazar said. “Like I hit it close on 1, I hit it close on 3 and I knocked it on the par 5 in two, No. 6. So three relatively easy, but in the middle of that I made a couple of five-, six-footers at the same time to keep it going.”
Frazar, 52, has yet to win on the PGA Tour Champions. His lone win on the PGA Tour came in 2011 at what was then called the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
Frazar began this week — the first leg of the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs — in 33rd place in the standings and could catapult to 12th with a victory. The top 54 players after this week will advance to next week’s TimberTech Championship, and after that, the top 36 will qualify for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix.
“I’ve got to get to Phoenix first, but yes, I feel like I’m playing OK, I feel like I’m playing alright,” Frazar said. “I’m hitting some good shots, I’m chipping and putting well, like I said. So if I can just tidy up a few tee shots, like I hit a couple of loose ones today but I got away with them. If I can tidy it up off the tee, yeah, confidence could be high.”
Green and Goydos each finished their days with six birdies and one bogey. Green, like Frazar, is looking for his first win on the 50-and-older circuit.
“I played well early,” Green said. “Was a little frustrating when the rain came. It was pretty testing conditions for everybody and it was just a matter of hanging in while it was wet, try and do my best, but hit some great shots into the par-3s that saved me big time.”
Brett Quigley and Jerry Kelly are tied for fourth at 4-under 68. Scott McCarron, Brian Gay, Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie and Sweden’s Robert Karlsson are tied for sixth at 3-under 69.
New Zealand’s Steven Alker, the tournament’s defending champion and the closest player to Schwab Cup money leader Steve Stricker, opened with a 1-under 71.
–Field Level Media
