Cologuard Classic: Brett Quigley’s improbable emergence continues with opening 64; several others lurk entering Round 2

“Just play golf.”

That’s been the mantra for Brett Quigley — his way of keeping things simple — since he began authoring a second chapter to his golf career that defies explanation.

Quigley, making his fourth career start on the PGA Tour Champions, shot a 9-under 64 to capture the first-round lead at the Cologuard Classic on Friday at Omni Tucson National Resort.

Quigley won his second career start, at last month’s Morocco Champions. It was his first triumph in a professional event since 2001, when he won the Arkansas Classic on what then was known as the Buy.com Tour. He made 408 career starts on the PGA Tour without claiming a victory.

“I’ve had enough time off to realize that for me to play great golf, I just have to go have fun playing golf,” Quigley said. “Of course, I’m trying out there. But I’m just playing golf.”

Quigley made nine birdies in a bogey-free round, including six of the final seven holes. He rolled in a putt from 15 feet right of the cup to birdie the difficult 18th hole and cap a nearly flawless first round.

Quigley leads another Champions Tour rookie, Robert Karlsson, by one stroke. Four players are tied for third place at 6-under 67, including 2018 champion Steve Stricker and two-time major winner John Daly.

Quigley played with a pair of Hall of Famers in the fifth-to-last group to begin on hole No. 1.

“It was pretty cool to be announced on the first tee with Colin Montgomerie, World Golf Hall of Fame, and Jose Maria Olazabal, World Golf Hall of Fame,” Quigley said. “And then they’re like, ‘From Rhode Island, Brett Quigley.’ ”

Quigley is becoming less anonymous by the week. His followed the win in Morocco with a top-10 finish at the Chubb Classic. The victory gave him exempt status on the PGA Tour Champions through the end of the 2021 season.

“Now that I have a schedule,” Quigley said, “it’s freedom.”

His schedule won’t include as many assignments for Fox Sports, where he has been working as an analyst and on-course reporter. After gaining exempt status, Quigley reached out to Fox executive producer Mark Loomis.

“I’m still going to work,” Quigley told him.

“No, you’re not,” Loomis responded. “You’re fired.”

In reality, Quigley has a full-time job now after his professional golf career basically didn’t exist for the better part of a decade. He became eligible for the Champions Tour last August and prepared for the opportunity by playing with his friends and his uncle, longtime tour pro Dana Quigley.

(Dana, 72, is having open-heart surgery Monday. “We’re all thinking of you,” his nephew said.)

Asked whether he expected to achieve this level of success, Brett Quigley said: “I don’t know is the short answer. I think I said it before, I thought I could do it. I didn’t always believe I could do it.”

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Confidence, especially in this event, hasn’t been a problem recently for Stricker. Time management has presented a much greater challenge.

Stricker is serving as the captain for the U.S. team in this year’s Ryder Cup. His responsibilities have compelled him to spend more time on the PGA Tour than the Champions Tour this year. Friday marked his first start of the season.

“It’s been OK,” Stricker said of balancing his duties as U.S. captain with his playing schedule. “It’s a challenge because my mind is somewhere else sometimes. I’m trying to think about what I can do for the Ryder Cup and what I need to do.

“It’s not overbearing or anything like that. But … I want to make sure it’s a perfect week and make sure the guys are going to have a great time there, and hopefully we can get a ‘W’ out of it.”

Stricker has played in this event three times. He finished second, first and tied for sixth. He made three birdies on each side Friday and didn’t have a bogey. He finished the round with a superb up-and-down from the bunker behind the 18th green.

Daly hasn’t played well here. He finished 76th last year and tied for 71st in 2018.

But Daly, who started on the 10th tee Friday, found a groove on his back nine. He birdied six of his final eight holes.

Per usual, Daly hit the ball a mile off the tee, averaging 329.5 yards per drive, tied for second best in the field. He putted better than normal, averaging 1.538 putts per green in regulation, which tied for 23rd.

“I made a lot of putts today,” Daly said. “I think three in a row that were probably over 150 feet (combined), so a lot of luck.

“It’s hard to keep doing that, so hopefully I can hit a few more greens and get a little closer.”

Daly isn’t the only contender experiencing surprising success at Tucson National. Glen Day, who also finished the first round at 6 under par, hasn’t recorded a top-25 finish in this event. He tied for 59th last year and finished in 60th the year before.

“Every time I’ve come here, I think, ‘Boy, this is a golf course for me, it fits my game,’ and I play like crap,” said Day, who holed an 80-yard wedge shot for eagle on the par-5 12th to highlight a back-nine 32.

“The front nine played tough. The pins were tucked. The wind was blowing. So a lot of pars.

“And then actually the back nine, which to me is the harder nine, I played really good. It’s a stupid game. It’s a four-letter word. What else can you say?”

Chip shots

• Tucson product Willie Wood is tied for 18th at 3-under 70. Wood, who finished tied for second a year ago, overcame a double bogey on the first hole. “I’ve played here probably 200 times,” Wood, 59, said. “But I haven’t played that well until last year. I would like to have a good weekend. It would be fun.”
• Defending champion Mark O’Meara opened with a 4-under 69 that included birdies on three of the final four holes. He is tied for 10th.
• Former world No. 1 Ernie Els, making his second career start on the PGA Tour Champions, struggled to an even-par 73. He rescued the round with two birdies over the final five holes.
• MLB Hall of Famer pitcher John Smoltz, playing on a sponsor exemption, shot a 1-over 74.
• The 469-yard, par-4 18th hole yielded just 28 birdies last year and ranked as the toughest closing hole (4.270 average) among non-majors in 2019. The hole played as the most difficult on the course Friday with a 4.244 scoring average.