Ryan Brehm aced the 196-yard par-3 17th on his way to a 5-under 66 and his first 18-hole lead/co-lead on the PGA Tour. This was his first hole-in-one on Tour.
🚨 ACE FOR RYAN BREHM 🚨
Taking over the solo lead @ValsparChamp at 5-under! pic.twitter.com/2HgayRToMa
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 16, 2023
"It kind of surprised me when I saw it go in the hole, honestly. But we got a good reaction. It was a lot of fun. I was really just trying to cover the front edge of the green, and we had the wind that was down off of the right. I think we had 189 to cover the front edge and it probably flew almost 200 yards. So it was pretty fun to see that thing trickle in.
"No real highlights [the rest of the round]. I took care of the par-5s. That's obviously a goal of mine every time play, but it seems harder to do than on paper. So we took care of the par-5s and that was nice. Then everything else I just kind of - my lag putting was good enough to get the balls down in two, I had a few up-and-downs and never hit one out of play. So I think that's kind of a recipe to just hang in there."
He started the week with fourteen missed cuts in 17 starts and his best finish so far this season was T14 at The Honda Classic.
Fellow American Adam Schenk carded six birdies and one bogey for his first 18-hole lead/co-lead.
"Just putted really well. Fortunate on the last hole. I hit a bunker shot that hit the pin. Probably going to go eight feet by and ended up only four feet or six feet, whatever it was. So some good fortune, some good golf. Not a lot could have gone that much better. So it's one those rounds that could have been 1-, 2-under par that ended up 5-under par. You take the days like this and run with them."
Schenk stands T6 or higher after round one for the third time in his last four starts (T5/Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard/finished T31; T6/The Honda Classic/finished T42).
Germany's Stephan Jaeger made seven birdies, tying for the most in the field, to join them in the lead.
"I hit some good putts, drove it really nice on the back nine, gave myself a lot of chances to hit it on the greens. These greens are pretty small, so if you've hit 'em in the right spots, you've got a lot of short putts in, and just kind of made the right putts and scored on the par-5s, which was nice. I didn't do a good job with that last week, so I'm happy I did that this week."
Jaeger started the week with twelve made cuts in fourteen starts and a season-high finish of T9 at the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open.
2015 champion Jordan Spieth opened with a bogey-free 67 and lies in fourth place at 4-under alongside compatriots Lucas Glover, who tied for most birdies in the field, and Maverick McNealy.
Reigning back-to-back champion Sam Burns of the USA opened with 69 and lies in T12 at 2-under in his bid to join Tiger Woods (six times), Steve Stricker (John Deere Classic/2009-11), and Stuart Appleby (Sentry Tournament of Champions/2004-06) as the only players in the last 40 years to win the same PGA Tour event at least three years in a row.
Rory Sabbatini (T96/+3) is now officially the 70th player in history to make at least 600 PGA Tour starts.
The back-to-back defending champ gets the roll 🔄@SamBurns66 drops the cliffhanger for birdie @ValsparChamp. pic.twitter.com/oPdh48brWm
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 16, 2023
