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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Sebastian Muñoz didn’t see any reason to hit the range after his opening round at the RSM Classic. And why would he? The 28-year-old Muñoz went out in 30 and came home in 30 to shoot a career-best 10-under 60 at the Seaside Course at Sea Island Resort.
So how exactly will Muñoz pass the time?
“I’m just going to get lost in video games and wait for tomorrow,” he said.
The Colombia native played something that resembled video golf, making four birdies in a five-hole stretch starting at No. 5 and a 9-foot eagle at 15. His round included three deuces and no score higher than 4 on the card, something he said he always strives for dating to his college days.
“That’s when I know I play my best, when I don’t make a 5,” he said.
His 10-foot birdie putt for a 3 at 18 meant he tied the course record.
“Really? I didn’t know that,” Muñoz said. “I knew I was hitting it good, and I just let it happen.”
Muñoz leads by one over Zach Johnson, who shot 9-under 61 at the par-70 Seaside Course, and Mackenzie Hughes, Scott Stallings and Chez Reavie, who shot 9-under 63 at Seaside’s sister course, the par-72 Plantation. It’s Muñoz’s sixth career 18-hole lead or co-lead on Tour, but he’s winless in the previous five events.
Benign conditions made it a day for record-low scoring. The scoring average of 66.308 at Seaside Course was the second-lowest scoring average on a single course in a single round on Tour since 1983. (The lowest was 66.28 at Indian Wells Golf Club at The American Express in 2003.) As a result, the ‘59 Watch’ started early, with Hughes, Corey Conners and Johnson all flirting with 50’s.
“I was watching the board, watching all my buddies, and then all of a sudden you see 7 under, like holy cow, we’ve only played nine holes,” said Davis Love III, the tournament host who grew up at Sea Island and renovated the Plantation Course two years ago. “You know they’re going to go low on a day like this on any golf course no matter where it is. You give guys no wind and good greens, they’re going to shoot low scores.”
“I was honestly surprised someone didn’t shoot lower,” Stallings said. “Like to be honest, I was surprised someone didn’t shoot in the 50s.”
Johnson, who is one of the local residents in the field, didn’t look at the leaderboard until the 15th green and that was by accident.
“I birdied that hole and I was like, I’m 8 under at T-4?” said Johnson, whose threesome combined to shoot 19 under without a single bogey.
But the weather forecast for the remainder of the week is calling for cooler, windier conditions, and scoring should rise as the temperature falls.
“When it’s windy, which it usually is windy, you’ve got to pucker up and hit some good shots,” Johnson said of the two Sea Island courses. “Today is the anomaly. Today is the Chamber of Commerce. You knew you had to get after it.”
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Check the yardage book: Sea Island’s Seaside Course for the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic
