Typically they serve up wine in the Napa Valley of California.
On Thursday, Brendan Steele started the 2015-2016 PGA Tour season by serving up a healthy portion of birdies at the Frys.com Open.
Steele, who is known to run hot and cold, ran very hot over his first nine holes at the Silverado Country Club with seven birdies for an outgoing 29. He cooled off over his final nine with just two more on the front but that still added up to a nine-under par effort of 63.
It was a huge test for Steele, who ditched the belly putter he used most of his career. He putted Thursday with a normal length putter and a claw grip.
He holds the first round lead by a shot on a leader board that features anyone but the usual suspects.
Jhonattan Vegas lost his card last year and is playing on a sponsor’s exemption. He made the most of it with an eight-under par 64 and is alone in second.
Harold Varner III, playing in his very first PGA Tour event, got a lot of attention with the seven-under par 65 he turned in. The former East Carolina golfer is the first African-American to earn his card through the Web.com Tour. His only bogey of the day came at the 15th hole but he bounced back to finish eagle-birdie-bridie for a 65.
The name players in the field performed well under perfect conditions. Justine Rose shot 67, Rory McIlroy’s 68 put him in contention and Brooks Koepka, ranked 15th in the world, may have had the comeback round of the day.
Koepka was three-over through his first six holes and floundering on the front nine. But a birdie at the ninth hole got him going and he would add three more birdies and an eagle at the 16th for a back nine of 31. He finished his day three-under at 69.
