Brendan Steele was 6-under-par to claim the lead after the opening round of the Zozo Championship, where he finished as runner up to local favorite Hideki Matsuyama in 2021.
“I love it here,” Steele said after dropping in a birdie on 18 followed a chip-in on 17.
Steele climbed to the top of the leaderboard with four consecutive birdies to the end the round, helping erase a bogey on 14.
The steady rainfall Friday didn’t slow down a large crowd or a huge push from Americans to the top of the leaderboard.
Steele playing partner Adam Schenk’s bogey-free 65 was good for a solo spot in second place and one shot ahead of three tied at 66: Keegan Bradley, Matthew NeSmith and Sam Ryder….