BRAINERD, Minn. – With an eagle and eight birdies on his scorecard through 17 holes Thursday, Germany’s Alexander Herrmann was just one more birdie away from carding the fourth sub-60 round in PGA Tour Canada history.
Instead, Herrmann found trouble off the tee leading to his only bogey of the day to post the lowest round on Tour this season with his 9-under 61 at Cragun’s Legacy Courses to take the opening round lead of the 2022 CRMC Championship.
“I wasn’t even aware that if I made birdie, that would’ve been 59,” Herrmann said following his round Thursday, “That makes it a little more annoying.
“I thought if I could squeeze out one more birdie, that would be fun and it would be a good round. I was just a little too aggressive and should’ve hit 2-iron instead of 3-wood. The way the hole is shaped isn’t necessarily perfect for my standard draw. That’s something I can learn from and be better for next time.”
Herrmann will take a one-stroke lead over Connor Godsey and Taylor Funk then the championship resumes Friday.
“I went out there and the first couple of holes played into the wind, so it wasn’t necessarily easy. I hit quality shots and they just happened to be close to the flag,” said Herrmann. “I didn’t make a birdie early on, but I was hitting every spot I was looking at on the first few holes. I knew my ball-striking was very good.
“[After No. 14], the rest of the front nine, for me, were all downwind so I could be a little more aggressive. There were some shorter shots in and I took advantage of that and I was pretty close to all the flags there.”
Beginning his first round on the 10th hole Thursday, Herrmann birdied the 13th before stringing together back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th, and an eagle from 15 feet at the 18th to quickly turn in 5-under.
The former Georgia State University golfer birdied two of his first three to begin his inward nine and would jump up the leaderboard with three consecutive birdies beginning at the sixth to move to 10-under for the day.
Forced to punch out at the last, Herrmann would two-putt the final green to take the clubhouse lead with his 9-under 61.
“I’ve felt like I’ve played okay this year so far,” Herrmann said. “I haven’t really gotten the results I’ve been looking for, so this is a good start. You’re always happy with a good start, but there’s a lot more golf to be played. There’s three more long days ahead of me.”
Playing in his eighth event of the season, the 27-year-old from Munich currently sits 111th in the Fortinet Cup rankings. His best finish of the season came at last month’s Prince Edward Island Open presented by IMP Solutions, where he placed tied for 40th.
After playing 22 events on the Korn Ferry Tour this season, Godsey is making his first start on the PGA Tour Canada since 2015.
Beginning on the 10th tee Thursday, the 30-year-old native of Alabama started the scoring during his opening round with back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th before recording an eagle at the par-5 16th, turning in 4-under for the round.
Godsey came out firing during his back nine with four birdies over his first six holes to move to 8-under before his first bogey of the round at the par-4 seventh. He rebounded with a birdie at the eighth to finish the opening round of play in a share of second with an 8-under 62.
“It was a good day. The first few holes were playing pretty tough—all playing into the wind,” Godsey said after his round Thursday. “I was hitting the ball nicely and hitting my irons really well.
“I’ve started playing a little better toward the end of the year. Some days you play well and some days you don’t. I feel like the game is trending in the right direction. I finished 113 on the Korn Ferry Tour, so I have to go back to the First Stage. It’s a good opportunity to come up here and see if I get it rolling and try to skip First Stage or Second Stage.”
Godsey made 12 cuts during the 2022 season, notching a pair of top-25 finishes. His best performance of the year came at The Ascendent presented by Blue in early July.
Funk tied the low nine-hole mark on the PGA Tour Canada this season during his final nine holes Thursday, carding a 7-under 28, on his way to an 8-under 62 to finish tied with Godsey.
Carding three birdies against two bogeys during his front nine, Funk found his groove by sinking three consecutive birdies beginning at the 10th. A birdie at the 15th followed by his eagle at the 16th catapulted Funk to 7-under for the tournament before a two-putt birdie at the last to card an 8-under 62.
Former University of Minnesota golfer and 2020 Minnesota State Open champion Angus Flanagan and University of St. Thomas assistant men’s coach Alex Kline both carded rounds of 4-under 66 to sit tied for 26th, lead all Minnesotans in the field this week.
The 2022 CRMC Championship continues Friday when the second round gets underway at 7:30 a.m. at Cragun’s Legacy Courses at Cragun’s Resort.
THE 2022 CRMC CHAMPIONSHIP
CRAGUN’S LEGACY COURSES
BRAINERD, MINN.
7,123 YARDS, PAR 70
THURSDAY’S FIRST ROUND RESULTS
1. Alexander Herrmann, Germany, 31-30—61
T2. Connor Godsey, United States, 31-31—62
T2. Taylor Funk, United States, 34-28—62
T4. Brett White, United States, 33-30—63
T4. Wil Bateman, Canada, 31-32—63
T4. Joe Highsmith, United States, 32-31—63
T4. Gavin Hall, United States, 33-30—63
T4. Peyton White, United States, 33-30—63
T4. Thomas Walsh, United States, 33-30—63
T10. Jake Knapp, United States, 33-31—64
T10. Wocheng Ye, China, 34-30—64
T10. Joey Savoie, Canada, 33-31—64
T10. Michael Blair, Canada, 31-33—64
T10. Jacob Solomon, United States, 33-31—64
T26. ALEX KLINE, UNITED STATES, 31-35—66
T26. ANGUS FLANAGAN, ENGLAND, 30-36—66
T55. ANDREW ISRAELSON, UNITED STATES, 34-34—68
T55. THOMAS LEHMAN, UNITED STATES, 34-34—68
T76. THOMAS LONGBELLA, UNITED STATES, 36-33—69
T76. ALEX GAUGERT, UNITED STATES, 33-36—69
T76. JUSTIN DOEDEN, UNITED STATES, 36-33—69
T148. VAN HOLMGREN, UNITED STATES, 38-36—74
For complete tournament results go to: www.pgatour.com/canada/en_us/leaderboard.html
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