J.T. Poston carded an eagle and nine birdies en route to a 10-under-par 62 and a one-stroke lead after the opening round of The American Express on Thursday in La Quinta, Calif.
Poston started his round on the back nine at the Nicklaus Tournament Course and came in with 32 at the turn with four birdies. He recovered from his lone bogey of the day at the par-4 No. 1 and really heated up with three straight birdies at Nos. 2-4.
Birdies at No. 6 and 8 were sandwiched around his eagle at the par-5, 527-yard No. 7. Poston estimated the eagle putt at 30-35 feet, and the birdie at No. 8 at about 3 inches.
Poston, 31, has three career wins on the PGA Tour, including the 2024 Shriners Children’s Open in October. He started the week No. 35 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Poston tied for 11th at this tournament last year and tied for sixth in 2023.
“I think it kind of suits the strengths of my game,” Poston said of the tournament and its three courses. “I feel like my strengths are putting, especially when the greens are this good. Sort of my wedge play, iron play, when I feel like I’m really hitting it good, I feel like I’ve got all the shots and can get the ball close to the hole and really take advantage of those scoring clubs. Yeah, I feel like I can go out there and make a bunch of birdies like I did (Thursday), so I feel like a tournament like this sort of plays into that.”
Justin Lower is a shot behind Poston after a 63 at La Quinta Country Club. A five-way tie for third place at 8-under 64 consists of Americans Joel Dahmen, Chris Kirk and J.J. Spaun as well as Australia’s Jason Day and Germany’s Matti Schmid.
Lower, who started his round at No. 10, made consecutive eagles at the par-5 fifth and sixth holes — something he couldn’t recall ever doing in a regular 18 holes, let alone a tournament round. He went bogey-free with five birdies on Nos, 11, 13, 14, 17 and 18, and the two eagles.
“It was a little bit of everything,” Lower said of his round. “Kind of got off to a weird start. I had a chip-in for par on my first hole. Yeah, just everything kind of started clicking from there. Took advantage of the par-5s, and got a couple to fall in between. A little nervy coming down the stretch, but still a good round.”
Nick Dunlap, who at this event last year became the first amateur in 33 years to win on the PGA Tour, is tied for 28th following a 5-under 67 the La Quinta course. Michael Thorbjornsen took antibiotics for his tonsillitis and opened with a 65 at the same course.
Blades Brown, a 17-year-old making his professional debut, carded an even-par 72 at La Quinta. That left him tied for 116th entering Friday.
Brown, playing on a sponsor exemption, made par at No. 1, then posted a bogey and double-bogey 5 before reeling off three consecutive birdies at Nos. 4-6. The rest of his round was less eventful with 12 straight pars.
“It was challenging the first couple of holes, just because my adrenaline was up and whenever that happens I hit the ball super far, so our distances weren’t going exactly what we thought they were going to go,” Brown said. “Then a poor shot on hole 3 left me in the hazard, unfortunately. I was able to battle back with three birdies in a row and I was super pumped about that.”
The tournament’s unique setup sees golfers play one round apiece at the Pete Dye Stadium Course and Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West as well as one at La Quinta Country Club, all of them par-72 layouts. The Pete Dye Stadium Course hosts the final round following a 54-hole cut to the top 65 and ties.
–Field Level Media
