Joel Dahmen made one bogey and ten birdies to close with a 9-under 61 and take the Wyndham Championship opening lead by one shot. 61 ties his career low round on Tour (R2/2020 RSM Classic/finished T50).

“It was really good. Drove it in the rough a couple holes early but got away with a couple of them, and then hit a ton of fairways after that and hit the numbers I was trying to and rolled in a few putts. So it was as basic as it gets, but typically when you do all those things, it adds up to a really low score,” said Dahmen.

“I don’t know if you ever see 61 coming, but I saw good golf coming. I went 45-ish holes last week without a bogey to start the tournament, played really well in Truckee at the Barracuda besides kind of a weak Saturday. If you take like four holes away last week, it was kind of going to be a top-5. Trending as we like to say in golf, we’re always trending, right, but we’re actually trending, which is nice.

“I’m impressed with how firm it is out there,” he added. “The course got rain, especially last year, I think it’s my seventh or eighth year playing here, it typically gets a little wet, so it’s fun to see the ball bouncing on the fairways. Greens are — if you hit good putts, they’re going to go in, so they picked up a lot of pace. I played late pro-am Wednesday, they picked up a lot of pace this morning, so there were a few downhillers that were really quick, but yeah, it’s good.

The American is playing in his 232nd start on the PGA Tour and bidding for his second career title (2021 Corales Puntacana Championship).

Dahmen has had three top-10 finishes in 21 starts this season (T9/Farmers Insurance Open, T6/Mexico Open at VidantaWorld, T2/Corales Puntacana Championship).

Alex Noren fired an eagle at the par-5 5th and made one bogey to close with a 62, tying his lowest round of the season (R2/3M Open/finished T7) and lies in second place at 8-under, his best 18-hole position this year (previous best: T9/PGA Championship/finished T17). At No. 141 in the FedExCup standings, the Swede needs to win this week for a chance to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs.

American Cameron Young made one bogey and eight birdies, including at his final five holes, for a 63 and a share of third place at 7-under.

Defending champion Aaron Rai of England made one bogey and shares third place in his bid to become the first player to successfully defend at the Wyndham Championship since Sam Snead in 1956. In 19 starts this season, he has recorded eight top-25 finishes, with a T4 at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld being his lone top-10.

Colombian Nico Echavarria eagled the par-5 5th and carded a bogey-free 63 for his share of third place alongside American Mark Hubbard who also stayed bogey-free.

Following the Wyndham Championship, the top 70 players in the FedExCup standings will qualify for next week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship (the first of three events in the FedExCup Playoffs):
• FedEx St. Jude Championship (top 70 players following Wyndham Championship)
• BMW Championship (top 50 players following FedEx St. Jude Championship)
• Tour Championship (top 30 players following BMW Championship)

91 players in the field have a chance to move inside the top 70 based on their finish this week.

The Wyndham Championship also serves as the final opportunity for players to secure their spot inside the Comcast Business Tour Top 10, which rewards season-long performance for the top 10 players in the FedExCup standings at the conclusion of the FedExCup Regular Season. The Comcast Business Tour TOP 10 will share a $40 million bonus, with the No. 1-ranked played earning $8 million.