MADISON, Miss. (AP) — Tim Petrovic shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday in the first round of the Viking Classic, joining John Mallinger, Brendon de Jonge, Peter Lonard, Sunghoon Kang and Bobby Gates in a six-way tie atop the leaderboard.
Frequent thunderstorms over the past several days left Annandale Country Club’s Bermuda grass soft. The PGA allowed players to lift, clean and place balls in the fairway, which helped keep scores low.
With the vast majority of the world’s best players competing thousands of miles away at the British Open, the Viking Classic leaderboard was loaded with names rarely seen so high at a PGA event. Gates, Mallinger, de Jonge and Kang have never won on tour.
Nine players, including 50-year-old Kenny Perry, were one stroke back at 6 under.
