Fortinet Championship 2021 R1
September 16-19
Silverado Resort and Spa North, Napa, California
$7,000,000
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Chez Reavie fired eight birdies and a single bogey at the par-4 14th to take the lead at the Fortinet Championship in California ahead of a crowded leaderboard on Thursday.

Fortinet Championship 2021 R1

"When it's firm and fast out here, you've got to be in the fairways and then the fairways are that much tougher to hit so you really have to pick your spots and hit the right clubs off the tees to even give yourself a chance.

Fortinet Championship 2021 R1

"It was great. It was kind of a slow start but I told myself to stay patient, you have plenty of chances to make birdies, and I was able to do that coming in. But I was 1 over through six holes, I think. I was like, okay, stay patient, don't become impatient. Yeah, fortunately I was able to make some birdies.

"I started hitting the ball better. I didn't drive it great off the tee, I drove it better on the second nine today, so the first few holes I just kept hitting it in the rough and I had to be really patient and just kind of play safe and play for pars. Some of these holes when you're playing for par, it's no fun. I was able to hit some fairways on the back and give myself some good looks."

Fortinet Championship 2021 R1

Fellow American Cameron Tringale shot a bogey-free 66 to take a share of second place alongside Canadian Adam Hadwin who made seven birdies and a bogey at the par-3 15th.

"I've been feeling really well the last few days," said Hadwin. "My speed's been really good, which gives you a lot of confidence, so that continued today. I've been seeing the lines well and got a few of them to drop.

"It's a great golf course and I think it plays better when it gets firm and fast like this. There isn't a ton of rough, but with it being so dry, you get flyers, you've got to play away from pins. The greens are firm, you've got to be spot on with your distances. I'm happy, good start, hopefully some more of that the next three."

Fortinet Championship 2021 R1

Six players are tied in fourth place at 5-under and fourteen are tied for tenth at 4-under.

World number 1 Jon Rahm, a member of the European team in next week's Ryder Cup, is feeling unwell and is in T104 after a 72.

"Not my best ball-striking day, a little tight today probably from having to be in
bed for so long yesterday. So a little tight, just didn't feel as fluid as it usually does. Even with how I felt, I played a little bit better than I thought I was going to, to be honest. Started great, started to hit some good shots, too bad I couldn't capitalize on some of the good chances early on.

"Towards the end a lot of times my mind just wasn't in it, I was having a hard time focusing given the fact that I haven't had a solid meal since Tuesday morning. It is what it is. I just started, I'm feeling good now, so get a good meal right now and rest up the rest of the day. We have three more days to go. You can't win it today, you can certainly lose it and it wasn't my best day."

Fortinet Championship 2021 R1