American Sam Burns has hit the front after taking the opening-round lead of the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Burns opened his account at the Riviera Country Club with a brilliant seven-under-par 64. The 24-year-old, who is yet to register his first win on the PGA Tour, finished the round with a two-stroke lead, by ending with three straight birdies.
He is closely followed by England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick and Max Homa, who both shot respective rounds of 66 to end the day on five under.
READ: SA trio line up at Riviera
A big group of eight players is a further stroke back and in T4, including the likes of Patrick Cantlay and Alex Noren.
A near ace on 16 for @JordanSpieth. ?
An opening round 3-under 68 has him T11 @TheGenesisInv. ?#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/l3I09UEqxi
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 19, 2021
It was a steady start for world No 1 Dustin Johnson, settling for an opening-round three-under-par 69. Johnson finds himself alongside Francesco Molinari, Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth.
It proved to be a tough start for the South Africans in the field, however, who struggled to get going on Thursday.
Branden Grace finished the best of the three players by remaining on even par for his first round, but Dylan Frittelli and Charl Schwartzel both shot rounds of four-over-par 75 to end the round in T105 and with a lot of work left to do on Friday.
