Scott Piercy is a four-time PGA Tour winner. Joe Highsmith is a Tour rookie.
Piercy, 45, is nearly twice as old as Highsmith, 23. The duo are in vastly different stages of their career, but they’re tied for the led at the 2024 Puerto Rico Open after their 7-under 65 opening rounds.
The Puerto Rico Open at Grand Reserve Golf Club is the Tour’s first opposite-field event of the year, and Thursday’s opening round didn’t finish because of afternoon storms that rolled through the area, forcing a suspension of play for more than two hours for the afternoon groups.
The first round was suspended with 54 players still needing to complete their rounds. Play will resume at 7:20 a.m. ET Friday, with round two scheduled to begin at 7:50 a.m. ET.
Piercy and Highsmith finished their rounds in the morning and are the overnight leaders.
“I think today was a lot of progress on the mental side,” Highsmith said of his opening round. “I felt like this year I just haven’t done a great job kind of just focusing and being like clear on what I’m trying to do out there. It’s been easy to get distracted with a lot of stuff out here.”
Joe Highsmith plays his shot from the fourth tee during the first round of the 2024 Puerto Rico Open at Grand Reserve Golf Club. (Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Kevin Streelman was 6 under thru 14 when the horn sounded for the day, and he’s tied with Brice Garnett, Garrick Higgo and Erik Barnes at T-3.
Defending champion Nico Echavarria shot 4 under in the opening round and is T-17. Aaron Wise, in his first start since the 2023 U.S. Open, shot 4 over.
