Ryan Brehm (1st/-11) finished birdie-eagle for a 5-under 67 to sit 11-under with a one-stroke lead at the Puerto Rico Open; only player in the field bogey-free through 36 holes.
Holds lead/co-lead for the first time after any round on the PGA TOUR; previous-best position after any round was T4/R1/2020 Wyndham Championship (finished T31).
Seeks first PGA TOUR title in 68th start while playing his final event on a Minor Medical Extension.
Related: With 67, Kiradech signals ‘mind, attitude in right place’
Victory this week would satisfy Minor Medical Extension and earn full exempt status for the remainder of this season, plus the next two seasons; solo-second would allow him to play out of the 126-150 category the remainder of this season.
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Best result of three top-25s on TOUR: T11 at 2021 Puerto Rico Open where he posted 68-71-69-67—275 (-13).
Owns two Korn Ferry Tour titles: 2016 WinCo Foods Portland Open, 2019 LECOM Health Challenge.
Finished T9 at Astara Golf Championship in Colombia last month, his first top-10 on the Korn Ferry Tour since August 2019.
Playing out of the Past Champion beyond 150 in 2020-21 FedExCup category, 2018 John Deere Classic winner Michael Kim (T2/-10) has hit 28 of 36 greens in regulation; making third start at this event (MC/2016, 74/2021).
Wife on the bag. One-shot lead.
Life is good for Ryan Brehm @PuertoRicoOpen. pic.twitter.com/8fWtAGyCZP
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 4, 2022
2018 RBC Heritage winner Satoshi Kodaira (T2/-10) opened with rounds of 68-66; failed to break 70 in six previous rounds at the Puerto Rico Open.
Hottest round on the course.
Satoshi Kodaira is racking up birdies. pic.twitter.com/VTwfoLVbkx
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 4, 2022
PGA TOUR rookie Max McGreevy (T2/-10) fires career-low 8-under 64 (previous best; 65/R2/2021 Butterfield Bermuda Championship); makes 11th PGA TOUR start and first at Puerto Rico Open; made three cuts in 10 prior starts with best result coming at The RSM Classic (T16); owns victories on PGA TOUR China Series (2019 Guangzhou Open) and Korn Ferry Tour (2020 Price Cutter Charity Championship).
England’s Callum Tarren (5th/-9) makes his 10th start of the season as a PGA TOUR rookie; after seven missed cuts and a DQ (Butterfield Bermuda Championship) in his first eight starts this season, comes into this week off a T30 at last week’s Honda Classic.
With an even-par 72, four-time TOUR winner Aaron Baddeley (T24/-5) extends his streak of par-or-better scores at the Puerto Rico Open to a perfect 14-for-14.
Kurt Kitayama (T54/-2), who finished third at The Honda Classic last week, birdied four of his last five holes to improve on his opening-round 76 by 10 strokes.
PGA Tour
