MOOSIC, Penn. -- Darron Stiles fired a 6-under-par 65 on Thursday to take the clubhouse lead of the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic. Sonny Skinner is 6 under par through 13 holes as weather has wreaked havoc on the tournament.
Play was suspended three times on Thursday at Glenmaura National Golf Club before officials decided to abandon play for the day. The remaining golfers will return to the course, in position, at 7:30 a.m. (ET) Friday morning.
Bradley Hughes, Lee Porter, Brad Fabel, Nathan Green and Rob Bradley share third place at 5-under-par 66.
Stiles flew out of the gate with three birdies in his first four holes as he started on the back nine at Glenmaura. He added another birdie at the 18th to make the turn in 32.
Stiles collected three birdies in his first six holes on the second nine but an errant drive into four-inch thick rough at 17 cost him his only stroke to par.
‘Being here for the third time, I’ve kind of figured where I can hit it and still be okay,’ said Stiles, who has three top-10s this season. ‘It’s more of a second-shot golf course. You’ve got to be aggressive at the right times on what pins to shoot at.’
Skinner used solid iron play to take his spot atop the leaderboard. He had one long birdie putt, a 35-footer at the second, as he twice tallied three birdies in a row.
‘It wasn’t anything fancy,’ said Skinner, who won twice on the Nationwide Tour in the early 90s. ‘It wasn’t playing terribly difficult. The greens were soft and if you hit your ball with a little control you could get it close to the hole.’
Boo Weekley, Willie Wood, Andrew Morse and James Driscoll, the runner-up to Jeff Quinney at the 2000 U.S. Amateur Championship, are tied in the clubhouse at 4-under-par 67. Jimmy Walker, who can earn his third title of the season this week and advance to the PGA Tour with a ‘battlefield promotion,’ is 4-under par through nine holes
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