Hughes uses early tee time to grab first round lead at Procore Championship, as leaderboard is stacked behind him

By Kyle Foster

kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaSportsNews @NapaKyle

It seems like going out in the morning always gets the leader out to a good start. Part of this could be because the course is fresh and the greens haven’t firmed up yet, which makes the conditions ideal. 

However, when you shoot 9-under to begin the tournament, conditions may not matter. In Thursday’s first round of the Procore Championship at Silverado Resort and Spa’s North Course, this is what Mackenzie Hues did to claim the lead after the first round of play to kick off the FedEXCup Fall season. 

In that morning round, the 34-year-old made an astounding 11 birdies while also having a pair of bogeys. More impressively, he was sitting at 6-under through his first 9 holes of the round. 

“I got off to a nice start, made a bit of a bonus birdie on 2, hit a great shot in there, nice putt on 3 and good save on 4,” Hughes said of his first few holes. “So I kind of felt like I got some good momentum going early. Then was really able to kind of pile it on there on the front nine. Kind of got a sense that around the turn there that things were going nicely. I had a nice feel with the putter, so it was really just about like continuing to put my foot on the gas and go forward.” 

He also did a good job of taking what the course gave him, as he made it onto the greens in regulation 14 times.

“I did some really nice things, I mean even like on 12 I drove it right and had to kind of pitch back to the fairway, and I got up and down from 225 yards for birdie,” Hughes added. “So I did some stuff that you can’t really count on all the time. Yeah, really was a nice day, obviously boosted a lot by a strong putter.” 

Just a shot back in second is Matt McCarty. Unlike Hughes, he went out and put up a bogey-free 8-under round. However, he also did most of his scoring on the front nine, where he collected five birdies. 

“Yeah, just hit it well, made some putts, kind of everything,” McCarty explained. “Chipped it well when I missed the green. Yeah, made a couple par saves early, which I think is nice after not playing for a month, kind of settled me in a little bit. Yeah, it was good, solid day.”  

The other one tied for second is Ben Griffin, another member of the US Ryder Cup team. He went out and put up a round that was without a bogey. 

After those three, Lanto Griffin is in a tie for fourth. He also had a nice round without a bogey and seven birdies. 

Also in the fourth spot is Russell Henley. He was the main player in the afternoon tee times to score. After starting with a pair of bogeys, he caught fire and made his way all the way up to third, thanks to 9 birdies before a bogey on the 16th hole, and then another birdie on hole 18. This was his first career round with 10 birdies and 3 bogeys. 

“Yeah, it was hard. That’s a tough way to start,” Henley said. “I didn’t really feel like I was too far off and had some tough lip-outs, but I just kept reminding myself I’m playing well, I’m doing a lot of good things, just stay patient. Immediately, I got some back real quick.”  

There is a big mess of players tied for 10th at 4-under who shot 68 to begin the event. One of them is the 2023 winner, Sahith Theegala. Others are Matt Kuchar, Akshay Bhatia, and Emiliano Grillo. In the afternoon, the PGA Tour stars hit the course, led by headliner and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. On the day, Scheffler did about what he normally does at the start of an event. He ended his day at 2-under. The up-and-down debut round in Napa featured four birdies and a pair of bogeys. 

“I think it was a pretty frustrating day overall,” Scheffler said. “I felt like I did some things well out there, I just wasn’t quite getting the reward. Yeah, that’s pretty much it on my end.”

The second round will take place on Friday. There will be cuts made after that to trim the field down.