Scott Piercy and Joe Highsmith shot matching 7-under 65s before the first round of the Puerto Rico was suspended Thursday in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Heavy rains prompted a nearly two-hour rain delay in the middle of the afternoon. Players were able to return to the course afterward, but play was halted for darkness at 6:30 local time with 54 players’ rounds still in progress. They will return to Grand Reserve Golf Club on Friday morning to complete the first round before starting the second.
As for the co-leaders, they’re a study in contrasts: a 45-year-old, four-time PGA Tour winner in Piercy and a rookie making his eighth career start in Highsmith.
Piercy’s last win on tour came in 2018, and he squandered a 54-hole lead at the 2022 3M Open to finish tied for fourth.
The highlight of his round Thursday was a hole-out for eagle out of the rough at the par-4 14th hole.
“I guess I was in the rough, but you don’t plan on holing it from the rough or from the fairway very often,” Piercy said. “I had 176 (yards), kind of a little wind down off the right. I thought it was going to jump so I hit an 8-iron, landed about 3 yards short and trickled in the hole.”
Piercy was able to absorb three bogeys on the day by finishing his round with three straight birdies at Nos. 7-9.
Highsmith, meanwhile, went bogey-free with seven birdies. He hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation to help his cause.
“I think today was a lot of progress on the mental side,” Highsmith said. “I felt like this year I just haven’t done a great job kind of just focusing and being like clear on what I’m trying to do out there. It’s been easy to get distracted with a lot of stuff out here. (Thursday) was nice to kind of get back to the basics and see that work, which was great.”
Piercy and Highsmith have a one-stroke edge on Brice Garnett, Erik Barnes, Kevin Streelman and South Africa’s Garrick Higgo. While the other three players had finished their rounds, Streelman was 6 under through 14 with his ball in the par-5 15th fairway.
Puerto Rico native Rafael Campos was 5 under through 13 holes. Making his 15th appearance in the Puerto Rico Open, Campos’ best finish was third place in 2020.
–Field Level Media