Lucas Glover is back in contention on the PGA Tour after a near miss at the John Deere Classic last week.
The 46-year-old Glover opened with a round of 63 for the second straight week, taking a share of the first-round lead at the ISCO Championship alongside Troy Merritt, Steven Fisk and Germany’s Stephan Jaeger on Thursday in Louisville, Ky.
That quartet is 7 under par through one round at Hurstbourne Country Club, while Chan Kim and Sweden’s Pontus Nyholm are one back at 6-under 64.
Glover had not shot a round better than 67 on tour all year until he went 63-65 to open the John Deere and take the lead. He finished last week tied for third, two shots back of winner Chris Gotterup.
Glover is playing this week’s alternate event opposite the Genesis Scottish Open and brought his hot form with him to Kentucky.
“Very similar to last week, the first couple days, hit it nice, made some putts and no bogeys,” Glover said. “Always a good way to start. First time here at this course. Absolutely love it.”
Glover led the field in strokes gained on approach and hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation. Half his six career PGA Tour wins have come since 2021.
Jaeger is among the other players at the ISCO trying to collect FedEx Cup points to stay afloat in the season-long race. He came into the week ranked 75th in the standings despite three top-10 showings.
“It’s funny … It does feel it’s been a decent season. Then you look at my FedEx Cup ranking and it’s just not where I really wanted to be,” Jaeger said. “So it’s been a little frustrating on that end to maybe not get the points that I want to in some events that I was playing well at.”
Fisk is 99th in the standings, and Merritt, who rolled in six birdies for a back-nine 29, is all the way back at 178th.
Merritt made a 22 1/2-footer at the par-3 13th and three others longer than 11 feet to account for four of those birdies. Asked if he had a favorite putt of the day, he said, “Every single one of them that went in.
“With how I battled the putter the past four years and how I battled my hands, I don’t even complain when they go in anymore, I just — I’m happy that they go in and I don’t mind what stroke is on ‘em,” he said. “The stroke felt very good, which is nice today.”
Fan favorites Joel Dahmen and Max Homa — the latter of whom placed second to Gotterup last week — are among those tied at 3-under 67. Defending champion William Mouw opened with a 2-under 68.
–Field Level Media
