Poston shoots 62 after hot finish

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — J.T. Poston fired a 10-under-par 62 to grab a one-shot lead after the opening round of the PGA Tour’s American Express tournament in the California desert on Thursday.

Poston, 31, chasing a fourth PGA Tour win after victory at the Shriners Children’s Open in October, conjured a scintillating finish to edge clear of the field on a day of low-scoring at La Quinta, outside Palm Springs.

With the opening rounds of the tournament taking place on three different courses, Poston tamed the par-72 Nicklaus Tournament course with a near flawless performance.

Teeing off on the back nine, Poston reached the turn at four under after four early birdies.

There was a brief blip on the 378-yard par-four 10th hole of the day where he bogeyed after hitting fairway and greenside bunkers.

But Poston responded to that setback with three straight birdies, and then went birdie-eagle-birdie before parring the last.

“It was just one of those days where everything was sort of clicking,” Poston said afterwards. “I really hit my irons great, drove it good, gave myself plenty of chances, and believe it or not missed a few putts inside of 10 feet the first nine holes.

“Just one of those days tee to green it was really good and iron play was really sharp,” the 31-year-old said.

Poston will not be taking anything for granted over the remainder of the tournament though, with a logjam near the top of the leaderboard.

Justin Lower trails by one shot on nine under after a bogey-free 63.

The highlight of Lower’s round at La Quinta Country Club came with back-to-back eagles on the par-five fifth and sixth holes. On both eagles, Lower holed out from the fairway.

“I’ve never done that, I don’t even think I’ve done it in just a regular round, but let alone a tournament round,” Lower admitted afterwards. “Any time you can make back-to-back eagles it certainly helps the score.”

Five players are tied for third place on eight under, including Australia’s Jason Day and Germany’s Matti Schmid, the former European amateur champion.

Schmid drained eight birdies in a bogey-free 64, while Day recovered from an early bogey on his second hole to shoot an eight under 64.

“Everything is so pure here,” Schmid said afterwards. “The greens are just perfect so you can really take advantage of some good shots.”