Never heard of Kyle Reifers? Neither had numerous people in the gallery of the Zurich Classic whom Reifers could hear mispronouncing his name during the first round in Avondale, La.
Teeing off for only his eighth time on the PGA Tour, Reifers (pronounced RYE-furs) shot a course-record 8-under-par 64 on the 7,341-yard TPC Louisiana course on Thursday, giving him a two-shot lead.
His closest challenger was seasoned pro and 1989 British Open champion Mark Calcavecchia, who shot a 66. Calcavecchia acknowledged that even he did not know much about the man he was chasing.
“I know what he looks like,” Calcavecchia said. “I’ve introduced myself to him.”
Tim Petrovic, who won the only other PGA Tour event held on this course in 2005, finished his round in a four-way tie for fourth at 67, along with Lucas Glover, Jason Schultz and Tom Johnson.
The PGA Tour stop in New Orleans has a way of bringing out the best in guys who’ve never won on the tour. And if Reifers, a graduate of Wake Forest, keeps this up, he’d become the fifth tour pro to take his first victory in New Orleans in the past six years.
The freckle-faced rookie, with thick, red hair curling out from under the sides and back of his baseball cap, emerged from the scoring tent having no idea he had just broken the course record of 65, set in 2005 by Chris DiMarco and Arjun Atwal.
“That’s the least of my worries,” Reifers said. “It doesn’t really mean much to me right now. … At the end of the week, hopefully it will mean a lot.”
PGA European/Asian Tour: Raphael Jacquelin shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Soren Kjeldsen after the first round of the Asian Open in Shanghai, China.
Ernie Els, who won the tournament by 13 strokes two years ago, was five shots back at 71.
Nationwide: Former Colorado State athlete Martin Laird fired a 6-under 66 to take a one- stroke lead over Jim McGovern, Robin Freeman, Richard Johnson, Jeff Street and former University of Colorado golfer Steve Jones after the first round of the Athens Regional Foundation Classic in Bogart, Ga.
