Trace Crowe’s Career-Best 62 Leads by Two

• Trace Crowe shot a bogey-free 62 to lead the Austin Championship by two shots.
• Erik van Rooyen and Max Greyserman share second place.
• Darkness suspended the first round with 25 players yet to finish.

Trace Crowe arrived in Texas at No. 117 in the FedExCup Fall standings, in danger of losing his PGA Tour card for the second time in three years. On Thursday he shot a bogey-free 10-under 62 on the Fazio Canyons Course at Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa to lead the Austin Championship presented by Compliance Solutions by two shots.

The 62 is a course record and Crowe’s lowest round on Tour. His previous best was 63, which he shot twice, most recently in the final round of this year’s VidantaWorld Mexico Open. It is also his first 18-hole lead or co-lead in an individual stroke-play event. His best first-round position before this was a tie for sixth.

Crowe made an adjustment to his swing with the driver and made 10 birdies. He hit 17 of 18 greens and leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting. He putted for birdie on every hole except the par-3 11th, where his tee shot went over the green and he chipped to tap-in range for par.

“Just every part of my game was good. It didn’t feel fluky at all,” said Crowe. “Every part of it was just kind of like full go. Made some nice putts and count ’em up, 62, yeah.”

Only one Fall event remains after this week, and the top 100 secure full cards for 2027. Crowe does have some protection. Wrist surgery kept him out until April, so he gets a few more starts early next year. His two top-10s in 16 starts this season are a tie for fourth at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, partnering Ben Martin, and a share of third at the Bank of Utah Championship.

Three eagles for Greyserman

Max Greyserman barely beat the darkness. He holed a 70-foot chip for eagle at the par-5 18th, his third eagle of the round after the 5th and 14th. He played the par-5s in 7-under and is the fifth player to make three eagles in a round on Tour this season.

Erik van Rooyen eagled the 5th and 18th in his bogey-free 64. It is his best opening round in 26 starts this season.

Brown backs up his breakthrough

Blades Brown made nine birdies in a 7-under 65 and is three shots behind. On Sunday the 19-year-old became the youngest PGA Tour winner in 95 years at the World Wide Technology Championship. That win took him to No. 62 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and a top-50 finish to the year would put the Masters within reach. He is also trying to become the first player since Matt Fitzpatrick to win back-to-back Tour events.

“I’m starting to get back to normal,” said Brown. “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I was still kind of coming off of Sunday. After a couple hours of sleep, I’m feeling a lot better. Get some food in me, yeah, feeling back to normal.”

Miles Russell, a high school senior and the only amateur in the field, shot 67. Jackson Koivun, who left Auburn in June, hit his approach to 5 feet from 258 yards at the par-5 14th and signed for 70.

Play was suspended at 5:36 p.m. local time and resumes at 7:00 a.m. on Friday. The second round will start as scheduled. Seamus Power withdrew after his first round with a hip injury. Christo Lamprecht withdrew with a back injury before teeing off and was replaced by Will Gordon.

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