Mediate trails by two in Puerto Rico Open

2009-03-13

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RIO GRANDE, PUERTO RICO (TICKER)—Rocco Mediate, one of the few big names in action here this week, is in contention after the first round of the Puerto Rico Open.

Mediate birdied the par-5 18th hole Thursday to complete a 4-under par 68 and climb within two shots of co-leaders Derek Lamely and 21-year-old Australian Jason Day.

The popular Mediate, who almost became the oldest player to win the U.S. Open last year, is in a six-way tie for eighth at the Trump International Golf Club.

Last June, the 45-year-old Mediate pushed Tiger Woods to a Monday playoff at the U.S. Open before finally falling short on the first sudden death hole.

Lamely, a rookie on the Nationwide Tour who is playing in only his second PGA Tour event, birdied the final four holes to get to 6-under.

The 26-year-old needed to qualify on Monday just to get into the tournament, but matched the second-lowest score in the qualifying round with a 69.

“Monday qualifying is the hard part. There’s only four spots,” Lamely said. “There’s always good players, so it could be anything to get through. So it’s kind of hectic trying to figure out what you need to do to get through. And I played well enough to get through, obviously, and then the real fun starts to come in and try to learn the golf course in one practice round.

“Fortunately, I had some friends out here and I got to talk to them on Monday night, and they kind of told me a little bit, couple things here and there. And then I got to play on Tuesday.”

Day, who is in his second year on the PGA Tour, had a chance to hold the lead by himself, getting to 6-under through 13 holes. However, he played the final five holes even.

Last year, Day recorded his first career top-10 Tour finish with a solo sixth at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Last month, he tied for 14th in his return to Pebble Beach.

Among the five players at 5-under are Michael Bradley, Cliff Kresge and Kevin Stadler, the son of former PGA Tour member Craig Stadler.

“If you’re driving it well and you’re keeping it in the fairway, as long as you can control the flight of the golf ball, makes it a little easier,” Bradley said. “Kept it out of the wind when need be, and I’m definitely happy with a 67.”

“It was breezy right from the get go,” Kresge said. “We woke up this morning and it was blowing as soon as we got up. So I knew it was going to be a challenging day with the winds.”