Canada’s Adam Svensson fired an 11-under-par 60 to grab a two-stroke lead in the first round of the inaugural Black Desert Championship on Thursday in Ivins, Utah.
Svensson, who started his day on the back nine at Black Desert Resort, holed a 31 1/2-foot eagle putt at the par-5 seventh hole to jump to 10 under and have a chance at a 59. After a par at No. 8, Svensson finished at the par-5 ninth and reached a greenside bunker in two shots. His recovery shot missed an improbable eagle by 4 feet, leaving him a birdie tap-in for 60 instead.
“It was great,” Svensson said of his round. “Hit my irons extremely well. Had a lot of good looks. I didn’t feel like I putted that great, but they just kind of snuck in. It was just one of those days.”
Matt McCarty and Sweden’s Henrik Norlander share second place at 62.
The Canadian made five straight birdies at Nos. 15 through 1 to get his round going. He missed a hole-in-one at the par-3 15th by 11 inches. Two holes later, he holed out from a bunker for birdie at another par-3 hole.
Svensson, 30, entered the week No. 76 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings. If he finishes the fall in the 51-60 range, he will qualify for the first two signature events of 2025, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.
The previous best previous round of his career was a 61, which he had done twice. Svensson is looking to add to his lone career PGA Tour win, which came at the 2022 RSM Classic.
Regarding his plan for Saturday, he said, “Just kind of feel like I didn’t shoot 60 yesterday and just kind of keep plugging along. The fairways are fairly easy to hit out here, so you just kind of have to put your approach shots near the hole and give yourself some looks.”
Norlander, 37, hit all 14 fairways and all 18 greens in regulation and sank nine birdies without a bogey.
“I really like it here,” Norlander said. “It’s a fun course, a lot of opportunities, but you’ve got to hit good shots because the greens are somewhat severe, and you’ve got to get it in the right portions to play well.”
McCarty, 26, is playing his second PGA Tour event after earning promotion from the Korn Ferry Tour. He eagled the par-4 fifth hole by sinking a 36-foot putt, and he added seven birdies.
“Just played solid,” McCarty said. “Hitting fairways out here is very important because if not I think you’re kind of re-teeing, so that was helpful. Yeah, just a fun day, and played really free, and I think that was helpful for sure.”
Kevin Streelman hit the inaugural tee shot at the new PGA Tour stop, the first in Utah since 1963. Streelman went on to birdie four of his last five holes to shoot a 7-under 64, setting the early pace before winding up fourth on the leaderboard as play wrapped up Thursday evening.
A total of 24 players had yet to complete the round when play was halted due to darkness.
–Field Level Media
