Russell Henley opened with a bogey-free 8-under 62 and was the clubhouse leader at the Wyndham Championship when play was suspended due to darkness.
The 32-year-old Georgia native finished his first day in Greensboro with an eagle and six birdies, highlighted by a three-hole stretch of eagle-birdie-birdie on Nos. 5, 6 and 7 and then three closing gains on his final four to reach 8 under.
“Definitely my short game,” said Henley when asked to cite the key to his opening round at Sedgefield Country Club.
“Had a couple holes where I put the ball in a terrible position and managed to get the ball up and down.
“Feel like I putted pretty well, made the putts I needed to make and made some par saves. Other than that, just, I don’t know, I feel like I played solid.”
Sung Kang, Ted Potter Jr., Michael Thompson, Chris Kirk, Hudson Swafford, Scott Piercy and Adam Hadwin were tied for second on 6 under.
Tournament favorite Webb Simpson was among a logjam of 13 players tied for ninth-place on 5 under.
Due to inclement weather, play was suspended at 5:01 p.m. with 61 players still on the course. The suspension lasted 2 hours and 7 minutes with play resuming at 7:08 p.m.
The second suspension, due to darkness, occurred at 8:15 p.m. with 32 players having not completed their opening rounds.
Wyndham Championship
Round-1 Leaderboard: Top 10
Pos-Player-To Par (Rd 1)
1. Russell Henley -8 (62)
2. Sung Kang -6 (64)
2. Ted Potter, Jr. -6 (64)
2. Michael Thompson -6 (64)
2. Chris Kirk -6 (64)
2. Hudson Swafford -6 (64)
2. Scott Piercy -6 (64)
2. Adam Hadwin -6 (16)*
9. Tyler McCumber -5 (65)
9. Andrew Landry -5 (65)
9. Brian Stuard -5 (65)
9. Jhonattan Vegas -5 (65)
9. Michael Gligic -5 (65)
9. Denny McCarthy -5 (65)
9. Webb Simpson -5 (65)
9. Kevin Kisner -5 (65)
9. Erik van Rooyen -5 (65)
9. Nick Taylor -5 (17)*
*First round not complete.
Notables
19. Tommy Fleetwood -4 (66)
19. Padraig Harrington -4 (66)
19. Matt Kuchar -4 (66)
19. Adam Scott -4 (66)
19. Branden Grace -4 (66)
19. Justin Rose -4 (66)
19. Si Woo Kim -4 (66)
19. Aaron Wise -4 (66)
19. Sungjae Im -4 (66)
40. Bubba Watson -3 (67)
40. Francesco Molinari -3 (67)
61. Will Zalatoris -2 (68)
61. Ryan Moore -2 (68)
89. Matthew Wolff -1 (69)
89. Zach Johnson -1 (69)
89. Brandt Snedeker -1 (69)
89. Hideki Matsuyama -1 (69)
108. Gary Woodland E (70)
130. Rickie Fowler +1 (71)
