Fran Quinn and Michael Sims both shot rounds of 7-under 64 on Thursday to lead the suspended Chitimacha Louisiana Open.
The first round, delayed at the start because of lingering thunderstorms that soaked the course overnight, was eventually suspended due to darkness. Forty- five players will return to the course Friday morning to complete their rounds.
The co-leaders had a two-shot advantage over Darron Stiles and Matt Bettencourt, who both finished off 5-under 66s before the suspension. Diego Vanegas, Ben Bates, Garth Mulroy and Neal Lancaster were tied for fifth place in the clubhouse at 4-under 67.
Josh Broadaway and Scott Sterling were also 4-under through 14 holes.
Lift, clean and place conditions were put into effect for the first two rounds at Le Triomphe Country Club, which saw more than two inches of rain fall overnight.
‘It’s not too bad when you can take that mud off the ball,’ said Quinn, who played in an early group off the No. 10 tee.
Quinn, a two-time Nationwide Tour winner (his last victory came in 2000), had little trouble with the soggy conditions. He made it around the par-71 layout without a bogey, collecting four birdies on his first nine holes, then three birdies the rest of the way.
He hit eight of 13 fairways and chipped in for two of his birdies.
‘It was definitely a good start for me,’ said Quinn. ‘We didn’t know that the weather was going to hold for the day. We were able to clean it and get a pretty good lie, so we were able to control our distances pretty well.’
Sims, who also started in a morning group off the 10th tee, collected eight birdies and a bogey for his 64. He tied Quinn for the clubhouse lead with a 12-foot birdie putt on his last hole, No. 9.
‘I was hitting everything really good. I hit a couple that weren’t very good, but for the most part I hit the ball really well,’ said Sims. ‘It is what it is.’
Defending champion Gavin Coles opened with a 2-under 69 and was tied for 22nd place.
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Fran Quinn and Michael Sims share Nationwide lead
Published March 26, 2009 04:00 PM
