HILTON HEAD ISLAND, South Carolina — England’s Aaron Ray parrot bogeyed two of his last three holes to shoot an 8-under 63 and take a one-stroke lead over Victor Hoveland after the RBC Heritage’s postponed first round on Friday.
Ray was among six golfers who were unable to complete their game due to a rain stoppage of nearly 90 minutes on Thursday.
Ray rolled an 11-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to tie Hovland shortly after the restart. He took the lead with a 17-foot birdie putt on the famous Lighthouse par 18th hole at Harbor Town Golf Links.
“It feels good,” Ray said after finishing. “She played really well. It could take a lot of positives from the way we played the tee to the green and made some great putts as well.”
Hovland opened with a score of 64 on Thursday and is seeking a first-round lead for the second week in a row after drawing from first to round one at the Masters.
It was two shots behind Brian Harman and Jimmy Walker at 65 years old.
Six others fell behind with another shot at 66, including US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, US Ryder Cup leader Zack Johnson, Justin Rose, Scott Stallings, Songjae M and Joel Dahmen.
Masters champ John Rahm got off to a slow start with a 1-over 72. Rahm is back on the track for the second round as he tries to get back into contention.
Rahm acknowledged Augusta National’s fatigue, and it didn’t help that Thursday afternoon included a rain delay of nearly 90 minutes. He had never felt so comfortable in a course he had only competed in once before.
“I hate making excuses, but some twists at the end had my body tired and it surprised me,” Ram said.
The RBC Heritage is the sixth designated event of the year on the PGA Tour, which means a purse increase – up to $20 million from $8 million a year ago – and many of the world’s best players, like Rahm and Hovland, are on the field when they might have taken Break after masters.
Harman is from nearby Savannah, Georgia, and has played the event for 12 straight years. He missed the cut at the Masters, then took a weekend off and didn’t touch a club until his arrival at Hilton Head.
“I killed a pig on my farm on Friday night, and I killed a turkey on Saturday morning,” Harman said. “I didn’t hit any balls until I got here on Tuesday.”