Blair leads by 2 at TPC Sawgrass
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Zac Blair fired a 7-under 63 on Thursday and that gave him a 2-stroke lead after one round of the Web.com Tour Championship.
Blair, who was a Web.com Tour rookie in 2014, matched the course record that Ashley Hall set last year.
Derek Fathauer, who lost in a playoff at the Nova Scotia Open, opened with a 5-under 65. He finished in the top 25 on the Web.com Tour money list and is off to the PGA Tour next season.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He shares second place on the Dye's Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass with Chad Collins, Bronson La'Cassie, Scott Pinckney and Sung Joon Park.
Adam Hadwin, who earned his second win of the year at the Chiquita Classic, was joined in seventh place at minus-4 by James Nitties, Tyrone Van Aswegen, Utah Championship winner Andres Gonzales and Travis Bertoni.
Blair, who shared second place at the Price Cutter Charity Championship, got off to a quick start with birdies on the first and third. After a pair of pars, he converted back-to-back birdies at six and seven.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The 24-year-old parred the next two holes to make the turn at minus-4. Blair carded birdies at 10 and 12 to grab the lead.
Blair ran off four straight pars from the 13th. He notched his seventh birdie at the 17th and parred the last to wrap up a bogey-free round.
"When you get it rolling and you're playing that well, it definitely frees things up," said Blair, who needed just 23 putts in the first round.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Blair, who has played the last 12 events, has missed the cut in the first three events of the finals series.
"It's been crazy. You always have to stay positive and look at the bright side," admitted Blair, who started the year with conditional status. "It's just a bonus to even be out here. Obviously, I would like to capitalize on it and play well."
Fathauer had a bogey-free front nine with three birdies. Around the turn, he posted four birdies and two bogeys for his 65.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Collins opened with a double-bogey at the first. He bounced back with three birdies in a 4-hole span from the fifth. Collins had four more birdies on the back nine to share second.
"I really don't have much to lose and everything to gain. I don't need to put any undue pressure on myself," Collins stated.
La'Cassie started on the back nine, where he had a lone bogey and a single birdie. Around the turn, he birdied five of the first seven holes to soar up the leaderboard. La'Cassie parred the last two holes to post 5-under.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pinckney had four birdies and a bogey on the front nine. He carded another bogey to go with three birdies on the back nine.
Park started with a birdie at the first, and that was the first of four birdies in the front side. He also dropped a shot at the sixth. Park had seven pars and a pair of birdies on his way back into the clubhouse.
NOTES: Blair's 63 was his low round of the year on tour. His low round had been 65, which he posted three times ... Carlos Ortiz, who was the regular season money leader on the Web.com Tour struggled to a 4-over 74, which left him tied for 107th ... Trevor Immelman and Dudley Hart withdrew prior to starting the event.