Billy Andrade is head and shoulders above the field after one round of the Sanford International on Friday in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Andrade reeled off five birdies in a row on his way to a 7-under-par 63. Nobody else shot better than 3-under 67 at Minnehaha Country Club.
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Andrade started his round on the back nine and birdied the par-5 12th before his five-birdie run began at the par-4 14th. He made the turn in 6-under 30 and moved to 7 under on the second hole, his 11th of the day, before cooling off and making seven straight pars to finish.
“I think it’s the best 18 holes I’ve played on the Champions Tour in my 11 years,” Andrade said. “It’s been a while and I’ve had some good scores over the years, but nothing this low in these kinds of conditions.”
Andrade won three times on the PGA Tour Champions in 2015 and hasn’t earned a trophy since. Not that he’s too concerned about turning his headstart into a victory.
“I’m 60 years old. I don’t think anyone really cares how I back up tomorrow from today or the next day or next week,” Andrade said. “We’re all out here just having a blast, having a great time. And I haven’t won in a long time, so it would be so sweet to get back in the winner’s circle. So that’s all I’m thinking about is going out tomorrow and having a great time with a couple of great golfers.”
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Four players are tied for second: Steve Stricker, Ken Tanigawa and Australians Steve Allan and Michael Wright.
Stricker is the two-time defending champion of this event and has three Sanford International titles among his 17 career wins on the PGA Tour Champions. On Friday, he paired five birdies with two bogeys.
Stricker knew that Andrade had left the field in the dust.
“I said that going down 17 to the guys in our group, ‘That’s a hell of a round today,’ 7 under, a four-shot lead. When you can beat the field or anybody else by four shots in a round, you know you did something special,” Stricker said.
“I’ve played here a lot of years and had success here,” he added, “so even when things aren’t going right, I still have that confidence knowing that I can finish strong coming in or make some birdies when I have to, but yes, it’s a nice-feeling place for me, and I enjoy going around here.”
Tied for sixth at 2-uder 68 are Harrison Frazar, South Korea’s Charlie Wi and Australian Richard Green.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI native Billy Andrade uses birdie binge to grab 4-shot Sanford lead
