WASHINGTON (AFP) — Doug Ghim holed out for an eagle on the way to a bogey-free nine-under par 62 on Thursday to take a one-shot lead over Max Homa and Austin Eckroat at the US PGA Tour John Deere Classic in Illinois.

Ghim, without a win in 162 PGA Tour starts, holed out from 91 yards out in the fairway at the par-four sixth hole at TPC Deere Run, where he’s hoping he can become the 25th player to claim a first tour title in the event.

The 29-year-old, who added seven birdies, knows he’ll have to keep going low to have a chance on Sunday, with another 15 players within three shots of the lead after the first round.

“Honestly, any time you can get to 20-under or better, you’re going to have a chance,” he said. “It’s still golf. It’s still a challenge. You have to hit fairways — I hit a lot of them today.”

“So just trying to shoot forwards of six-under every day and see where that puts me.”

His closest pursuers are Homa — who had nine birdies and a bogey — and Eckroat, who had two eagles on the front nine and four birdies to share second on eight-under 63.

Homa, a former world number eight and a six-time winner on the PGA Tour, is trying to fight his way out of a slump that has seen him post just one top-25 finish this season.

He teed off on 10 and reeled off four straight birdies at 11, 12, 13 and 14. He’d added five more and was tied with Ghim for the lead before a closing bogey at the ninth, where he was unable to get up and down from a greenside bunker.

“I just did everything really solid,” Homa said. “I made a ton of putts, kept the driver in good spots, got to take advantage of my iron play, my wedge play.”

“(It) always feels good to get off to a good start when you’re struggling, that’s for sure,” Homa said.

Eckroat, who claimed both of his PGA Tour titles in 2024, has also struggled this year but said his game has been trending in the right direction recently.

He opened with a birdie at the first, and made an 11-foot eagle putt at the par-five second.

He holed out from the fairway for eagle at the par-four fifth and added three birdies on the back nine.

“It’s great to have some confidence on the golf course,” Eckroat said. “That’s the big thing for the most part, confidence level is high. The ball striking is great today. Holed one out, hit some close... just fun to be in that position.”

Americans David Lipsky, Sam Stevens, Justin Lower and Michael Kim shared fourth on seven-under par 64 with another nine players tied on six-under 65 — a group that included Rickie Fowler and South Korean Kim Si-woo.