SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda (AP) — Hayden Springer birdied three of his last four holes Thursday for a 6-under 65, giving him a share of the lead with Justin Lower before darkness kept the opening round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship from finishing.
Springer needed a start like this with only two tournaments left in the PGA Tour season. He came to Bermuda at No. 125 in the FedEx Cup, the cutoff for keeping full status for 2025.
Lower is safe at No. 95 and brought good form to the island in the middle of the Atlantic, coming off a runner-up finish in Mexico last week.
They were one shot ahead of Patrick Rodgers, Joseph Bramlett and Kevin Dougherty, who still had the 18th hole at Port Royal to play to complete his round.
Springer is doing his best not to think about his position in the FedEx Cup standings.
“It’s nice to get off to a good start. I mean, that’s where you want to be, you want to play well every day,” he said. “I think I need it as much as anybody, so it’s definitely nice to do that and hopefully it will continue all week.”
Springer has experience with a fast start. He posted one of two sub-60s rounds on the PGA Tour this year when he opened with a 59 at the John Deere Classic in July. He followed with a 71 and wound up in a tie for seventh.
“There’s so much golf left, so it’s easy to kind of get ahead of yourself,” Springer said. “That’s really the main thing I kind of learned at John Deere. I got a little rattled on my back nine on Friday. I started to kind of think about it and where I was positioned. I think that’s the biggest thing is just don’t think too much about it and play golf.”
Lower was in the first group before the typical strong wind at Port Royal gained some force. He started on the back nine and played bogey-free.
Springer did well to catch him. He holed a long birdie putt on the 15th that he called a bonus, made it through the scary par-3 16th along the ocean, took advantage of having the wind at his back on the par-5 17th and then got a great roll off the slope at the 18th, the ball setting about 6 feet away for a final birdie.
Lower can only hope some recent history is on his side. A year ago, Camilo Villegas finished second in Mexico, and then followed with a win in Bermuda.
“Crossed my mind, for sure,” Lower said. “But we still have 54 holes to go. We have very unpredictable weather other than tomorrow — Saturday from what I’ve seen looks pretty miserable. But yeah, I’m feeling very good after last week and a little determined after coming up a shot short. Just doing what I can.”
The group at 67 included Kevin Kisner, enduring a rough year as he tries to sort out his game while spending some time in the NBC broadcast booth. Also at 67 was Jhonattan Vegas, one of only three players in the field who already have locked up a spot in the Masters.
Vegas was all over the place, making only one par in his opening 12 holes — seven birdies and four bogeys on the other holes — until settling down.
“It was a little bit of a roller coaster for sure,” Vegas said.
Lucas Glover, at No. 48 the only player from the top 50 in the world in Bermuda, was in the large group at 68.
Twenty-one players will conclude their first rounds Friday morning before a quick turnaround for the next round.
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