Albuquerque’s Brian Kortan is one competitor at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club who wouldn’t feel nervous or out of place if he were to earn the sponsor’s exemption to The International by winning the Colorado Open.
Kortan, the Colorado Open’s co-leader after an opening-round of 6-under-par 65 on Thursday, played a full PGA Tour schedule two years ago and made a stop at Castle Pines. He finished in a tie for 60th in the 2004 International.
“The goal is to get back there. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t,” said Kortan, a former University of New Mexico golfer.
Kortan posted his score early, then had it matched in the afternoon by Dustin White of Pueblo West. White, who qualified for the 2006 U.S. Open, did not miss a fairway and played bogey-free.
White had chances to seize the lead for himself but missed two birdie opportunities from inside 4 feet and another from 10 feet. “Those are ones you expect to make, but I’ll take a 65,” said White, who played college golf at Washington State.
Kortan overcame two bogeys by rolling in eight birdies. He missed only one green in regulation, showing flashes of the form that got him to the sport’s top level. Kortan placed 200th on the 2004 PGA Tour money list ($159,939), however, and he failed to retain his playing privileges. He played on the 2005 Nationwide Tour but lost his exempt status there. He has a victory this year on the lower-level Tight Lies Tour.
“The Tour is tough, but I know I’m better than what I showed the last two years,” said Kortan, playing in his first Colorado Open since 2002, when he lost in a three-way playoff with champion Kevin Stadler and co-runner-up Gary Hallberg.
Kortan and White hold a one-stroke lead over former University of Colorado golfer John Douma and Ty Harris, a first-year pro who played college golf at Georgia State. Five players stand another stroke back at 67, including defending champion Wil Collins.
Collins birdied all three par-5s and gained a stroke on most of the field by draining a 40-foot birdie on the 474-yard par-4 12th which played as a 536-yard par 5 in previous years. That change made the 7,211-yard course a par 71 for this event.
Counting last year, Collins has shot in the 60s in all five of his Colorado Open rounds.
“Knock on wood, I guess,” he said with a grin.
Harris, from the Orlando, Fla., area, sizzled with a 31 on the back nine and said he wasn’t bothered in the least by the heat.
“It’s perfect weather here,” Harris said. “Actually, I was wearing a jacket for the front nine.”
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
