Jul 19, 2018 4 min read

Troy Merritt surged to the first-round lead with a 10-under 62, equaling the course record on the Champion Trace course at Keene Trace Golf Club, which is hosting the event for the first time.

Playing in the afternoon and using a new putter, Merritt surged into the lead by shooting 6 under on his second nine. He holed a 34-footer for eagle on the par-5 sixth, and his four other birdies on the side were from inside 11 feet.

Trinity graduate Steve Wheatcroft shot a 4-under 68 after birdying the last three holes. He is tied for 28th.

Andres Romero, Billy Horschel and Joel Dahmen shot 65s and were three shots back. Hunter Mahan was one of eight players to shoot 66.

Eleven years ago, the last time the British Open was played at Carnoustie, Romero finished alone in third, one shot out of a playoff won by Padraig Harrington. But the up-and-down Argentinian hasn’t won in the United States in a decade and didn’t qualify for the Open this year.

Brittany Lincicome shot a 6-over 78, leaving the LPGA Tour pro’s goal of making the cut likely out of reach.

Lincicome is hoping to become the second woman to make the cut in a men’s event and the first since Babe Zaharias in 1945. She’s the first woman to get a PGA Tour start since Michelle Wie a decade ago.

Although Lincicome expected to struggle with the length of the golf course, her worst holes were two par 3s. She missed her tee shot well right on the 191-yard seventh, leaving her a difficult pitch from a downhill lie in the rough. That came up short of the green and she ultimately made a triple-bogey 6.

On the 205-yard 18th, her tee shot came up short in the water, leading to double bogey.

She played the other 16 holes in 1 over, making her only birdie on the par-4 third.

Lincicome would likely need a round in the mid-60s Friday to make the cut.

Junior player hits hole-in-one, albatross: A 16-year-old Thai player made a hole-in-one and an albatross on consecutive holes in an American Junior Golf Association tournament.

Conor Kelly aced the 198-yard, par-3 eighth, hitting a 5-iron for his first hole-in-one. Using the same ball on the 480-yard, par-5 ninth, he holed a 4-iron second shot from 220 yards for the albatross.

Kelly followed with a birdie on the par-4 10th – for a 1-2-3 scorecard run – and finished with a 5-under 67 to tie for 17th at 8 over in the AJGA Junior Golf Hub Championship at the Country Club of Halifax. He used only one ball the entire round.

Three-time tour winner dies at 69: Mark Hayes, who won The Players Championship among his three PGA Tour titles and was the first player to shoot 63 in the British Open, has died. He was 69.

Hayes died Monday in Edmond, brother Larry Hayes said. He had early onset Alzheimer’s Disease.

Hayes won the fourth edition of The Players when it was held at tough, windy Sawgrass Country Club. He birdied the last hole for an even-par 72 and a two-shot victory over Mike McCullough. Hayes won at 1-over 289.

Known for his bucket hat, the Oak Tree Gang member who starred at Oklahoma State won twice in 1976 at the Byron Nelson Golf Classic and the Pensacola Open. Along with winning The Players the following year, he shot 63 at Turnberry in the 1977 British Open.

Hayes was a two-time All-American at Oklahoma State and won the 1972 Sunnehanna Amateur. He helped the United States win the World Amateur Team Championship in Argentina that year, playing on a team that included Ben Crenshaw.