Brennan and Doyle Lead After Round 1 of the 20th Metropolitan Open Presented By Hogan
Lake St. Louis, MO - The first round of the 20th Metropolitan Open Championship Presented by Hogan was one for the books as players lined the leaderboard, hoping to get their name on top. The day began with cloudy conditions, but was a beautiful, sunny day by the afternoon. Lake Forest Country Club played to a par 72 at 7,026 yards. The field was split into two waves going off of both Holes 1 and 10. The morning wave began at 7:15am and the afternoon began at 12:15pm.
In the morning wave, Kaylor Steger of Mount Pleasant, WI set the tone for the day. A bogey free front nine and even par back nine saw Steger top the leaderboard at four-under (-4) par. Following just one stroke back were three golfers. Ryan Sullivan of Winston Salem, MO had three birdies on the front and two birdies on the back to end the day at three-under (-3) par. Carr Vernon of Poplar Bluff, MO started and closed out his front nine with birdies then coupled with a bogey-free back nine. Vernon sits at three-under (-3) par. Defending Champion, Ryan Cole of Glen Allen, VA, put himself in the mix as the third player to reach three-under (-3) par. It was an up and down round for Cole, but he carded six birdies to stay in the game.
By the end of the morning wave, ten players were under par with four-under leading the pack. Sitting at two under were Danny Fisher, Charles Jahn, Matthew Walker, and Hunter O’Mahoney. Following behind at one-under (-1) par were Tyler Fox and Casey Fernandez.
The afternoon wave got started and knew they would have to put the work in to throw their name in the mix. Winds were blowing strong early in their round, but did die down later. Michael Brennan of Leesburg, VA came to play, shooting a bogey free round. Four birdies and an eagle on Hole 9 catapulted Brennan to the top of the leaderboard at six-under (-6) par. Mac McClear of Hinsdale, IL also eclipsed the morning’s leaders. McClear had a bogey-free back nine and six birdies across the round to finish the day at five-under (-5) par and just one shot back of the lead. Brett White of Houston, TX, Timothy Lim of Hoffman Estates, IL, and Dylan Ellis of Parkersburg, IA all joined the group of golfers sitting at three-under (-3) par. Ellis capped off his round with an eagle on Hole 18 to add his name to the list.
Play was then disrupted at 6:26pm due to severe weather in the area. We were unable to resume play Wednesday evening. Play for Round 1 resumed at 7:00am Thursday morning and was promptly followed by Round 2 at 7:15am.
Once all the scores for Round 1 were in, a few more golfers squeezed their names in at the top of the leaderboard. Drew Doyle of Louisville, KY had a bogey-free front nine and paired it with seven birdies to join Brennan at the top of the leaderboard at six-under (-6) par. Blake Wisdom of Lake Geneva, WI carded a bogey-free back nine. Four birdies and an eagle on the 9th hole jumped Wisdom up the board to sit at five-under (-5) par with McClear. Conner Godsey of Ponte Vedra, FL came up to join the morning wave’s leader, Steger, on the leaderboard. An eagle on Hole 9 and four birdies across the round brought him into the clubhouse at four-under (-4) par.
At the end of Round 1, Michael Brennan and Drew Doyle sat on top at six-under (-6) par. Just behind at five-under are Mac McClear and Blake Wisdom, followed by Conner Godsey and Kaylor Steger at four-under par. The players that had already finished the first round started taking the course at 7:15am. As the remaining golfers finished their first rounds, they quickly regrouped and were back on the course at their originally scheduled start times.