BRAINERD, Minn. – Matching his low round of the season Thursday at Cragun’s Legacy Course, Taylor Funk began his day with a birdie and ended his day with a birdie to post a 6-under 64 to take the first-round lead at the 2024 CRMC Championship presented by Gertens.
“I was hitting it great, and the putter finally heated up,” Funk said Thursday. “I was hitting it good last week, but putted so bad. I went back [to an old putter] that I used for 12 years straight and had good memories of this place—fed off that."
Funk set a course record with his 10-under 60 during the final round last season to finish tied for sixth.
“If you combine the back nine from Sunday last year with the front nine today, it would’ve been a 59. I guess I just like this place.”
Play was halted for nearly two hours Thursday due to severe weather in the area before play was halted due to darkness at 7:58 p.m. The opening round will resume at 7:45 a.m. Friday.
Looking to avoid a fifth consecutive missed cut this week, Funk began his round by chipping in for birdie at the first before converting his birdie chance at the second.
Dropping his putt from 15 feet at the seventh, Funk then sank his birdie chance from 12 feet at the eighth to turn in 4-under for the round.
Taking advantage of the par-5 16th, Funk reached 5-under for the round before converting one final birdie of the round at the 18th, dropping his putt from inside of eight feet to take the clubhouse lead with a bogey-free 64.
“I’ve been behind the eight ball all year chasing cuts and worrying about that too much instead of worrying about winning a golf tournament,” Funk said Thursday. “Getting off to a good start, I feel like I can set my sights on the trophy instead of worrying about making the cut.
“I’ve felt pretty good about most of my game, I just haven’t been putting it together. It feels nice to put most parts of it together today.”
In 12 PGA Tour Americas events this season, Funk has made three cuts and notched a pair of top-25 finishes. He currently sits 106th in the Fortinet Cup standings.
When the championship resumes Friday, Canadian Matthew Anderson and Californian Ethan Davidson will begin their respective second rounds one back of Funk at 5-under 65.
Coming off two top-5 finishes over his last three starts, Anderson is looking to pick up his second win of the season after claiming the 69th ECP Brazil Open in April.
“I’m just trying to get better at golf every day. My game’s in a good place and I’ve been feeling like it’s been in a good place after the first couple of events,” Anderson said. “I’m swinging it well and I feel like every part of my game is good right now, and it makes it easy to go out there, trust everything and go play golf.”
Beginning on the 10th tee Thursday, Anderson carded three birdies during his opening nine before reaching 4-under for his round with a birdie at the 10th.
He’d take a step back with his only bogey of the opening round at the second, and would rally late with two birdies on his final two holes to pull within one shot of the lead at 5-under 65.
“I played solid all day, didn’t hit too many bad shots,” said Anderson, who enters the week ranked No. 2 in the Fortinet Cup standings this season. “Gave myself a lot of looks and capitalized on some.
“I love this course. I didn’t play particularly well last year—I made the cut, but this was my favorite course that we played. It’s a little more demanding than some that we see out here, and the way it’s designed, it’s really cool and I enjoy playing it.”
Last season’s Minnesota State Open and Minnesota Golf Association Amateur champion Caleb VanArragon carded an eagle and a birdie during his opening round to card a bogey-free 67 to lead all local players in the field Thursday.
“Today wasn’t as boring as the scorecard looks, I had a lot of good up-and-downs,” VanArragon said Thursday. “I didn’t hit a ton of greens, but I was really happy with the way I was able to scramble."
VanArragon, who claimed the Twin Cities Open earlier this season, Monday qualified for the Korn Ferry Tour’s Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse in early August, missing the cut by one stroke.
He’s claimed three runner-up finishes on the Dakotas Tour this season, and finished tied for 12th Aug. 18 in Minot, N.D.
“I’ve been lucky to have a few solid finishes coming into this tournament,” VanArragon said. “Having the confidence of putting a good round together to Monday qualify is an added bonus. It was playing tough this morning with the wind, so I was really lucky to stay bogey-free.”
VanArragon hit a 6-iron to 25 feet on his seventh hole and converted his eagle putt before he sank his birdie chance from 12 feet at his 16th hole to card a 3-under 67.
When play was suspended late Thursday, Chase Sienkiewicz took the on-course lead at 7-under through 13 holes thanks to an eagle at the par-5 fourth as play was halted.
The opening round of the 2024 CRMC Championship presented by Gertens will resume at 7:45 a.m. Friday, followed by the start of the second round at Cragun’s Legacy Course.
THE 2024 CRMC CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY GERTENS
CRAGUN’S LEGACY COURSE
BRAINERD, MINN.
7,001 YARDS, PAR 70
THURSDAY’S FIRST ROUND RESULTS
1. Chase Sienkiewicz, United States, -7 thru 13 holes
T2. Taylor Funk, United States, 31-33—64
T2. Neal Shipley, United States, -6 thru 13 holes
T4. Matthew Anderson, Canada, 33-32—65
T4. Ethan Davidson, United States, 32-33—65
T4. Jay Card III, United States, -5 thru 9 holes
T7. Brandon Hoelzer, United States, 35-31—66
T7. Agustin Errazuriz, Chile, 33-33—66
T7. Paul Conroy, Ireland, 34-32—66
T7. George Markham, United States, -4 thru 12 holes
T7. Bryce Emory, United States, -4 thru 12 holes
T7. David Perkins, United States, -4 thru 12 holes
T7. Frederik Kjettrup, Denmark, -4 thru 12 holes
T14. CALEB VANARRAGON, BLAINE, MINN., 33-34—67
T49. DEREK HITCHNER, MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. 36-33—69
T75. CARSON HERRON (A), DEEPHAVEN, MINN., E THRU 4 HOLES
T75. JACK HIEMENZ, BLAINE, MINN., E THRU 6 HOLES
T75. BEN WARIAN (A), STILLWATER, MINN., E THRU 6 HOLES
T75. HENRY MAY, EDINA, MINN., E THRU HOLES
T149. THOMAS LEHMAN, SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ., 35-40—75
T153. THOMAS LONGBELLA, UNIV. OF MINN., 37-39—76
156. BEN SIGEL, DEEPHAVEN, MINN., 41-37—78
For complete tournament results go to: www.pgatour.com/americas/leaderboard
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