Bogota, Colombia (SportsNetwork.com) – Roberto Diaz fired a 9-under 62 on
Thursday and he grabbed a 3-stroke lead after one round of the Pacific
Rubiales Colombia Championship.
Diaz posted his best tour finish last year at the Rex Hospital Open, where he
tied for fourth. He missed the cut last week in Panama.
Darron Stiles, who has five Web.com Tour titles, carded a 6-under 65 and is
alone in second place on the Fundadores Course at Bogota Country Club.
Patton Kizzire and Tyler McCumber, who both missed the cut in Panama, opened
with 66s. They were joined in third place by Will Wilcox.
Steve Marino, Aaron Watkins, Chase Wright and Zack Fischer share sixth place
at minus-4.
Diaz opened with four pars and a birdie in his first five holes. He converted
a birdie try on the sixth. Diaz followed with birdies at seven and eight to
move to minus-4.
The Mexican followed a par at the ninth with another hot stretch of golf
around the turn.
Diaz birdied the par-5 10th and kept rolling as he birdied 11 and 12 to jump
to 7-under. He remained there with four consecutive pars. Diaz closed his
round with back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18.
“I attacked the holes that I could and on the other holes, I played pretty
safe. It’s a fun course. You can hit it a mile if you can get it up in the
air,” Diaz stated.
Stiles started his round with a birdie on the 10th. He gave that shot back as
he stumbled to a bogey on the par-3 12th. Stiles rebounded with birdies at 14
and 16, before he ran off four straight pars around the turn.
The 41-year-old moved to 4-under with birdies at three and five. Stiles closed
his round with an eagle at the par-5 ninth.
“This is how far I hit it 20 years ago. I’d like to stay at this altitude all
year. It’s an adjustment, but having been here a couple of times you learn how
far things go,” said Stiles of the course, which is 8,660 feet above sea
level.
“This week you’ve got to hit the ball in the fairway because the trees are so
big. It’s hard to get out of those unless you get a couple of breaks. I don’t
know if I drove the ball all that well. I hit it in the rough, but the holes
you can score on, I hit it in the right spot.”
NOTES: Diaz’s 62 was a new course record … He broke the old mark of 63,
which Alex Cejka set last year … Diaz shared the first-round lead last year
at the United Leasing Championship before finishing tied for 19th.
