Valdosta, GA – Robert Streb fired a six-under 66 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the South Georgia Classic.
Streb, who has never won on the Nationwide Tour and is enjoying his first full season, is alone in first. Brian Stuard, Luke List and Sihwan Kim share second after carding five-under 67s at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club.
Another shot behind on the tight leaderboard are Adam Hadwin, Diego Velasquez and Anthony Rodriguez. They are tied for fifth at minus-four.
"I'd like not to worry about it but it's obviously one of those things you do worry about because you want to be leading," Streb said of his lead. "I always look out of curiosity. I try not to but I want to know. I was surprised by it but it was pretty nice."
Streb began his round on the back nine and sank his first birdie at the 11th. He bogeyed the next hole, but followed that slip-up with a string of four consecutive birdies.
The run -- which included a par five, a par three and two par fours -- got him to four-under.
He stayed at that score around the turn, and birdies at three and seven put him further into red numbers. The 66 was his best round of the season, during which he has missed the cut twice. His best finish was a tie for 17th at the Chile Classic in March.
"I played pretty darned good today. It was the best ball-striking and putting combination I've had," said Streb, who hit 13 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation. "I've been either hitting it good or putting it good. One or the other but I kind of had it all going today for the most part."
Stuard birdied all four of the par fives on course during his bogey-free round, and added a birdie at the last, the par-four 18th, to reach minus-five.
List began at the 10th tee and birdied his first two holes, and eventually reached six-under following his birdie at the fifth. However, a bogey at the seventh knocked him back down.
Kim had a roller-coaster beginning to his round, opening it with a bogey at the first before an eagle at the par-five second. A bogey at the third moved him back to par before he rolled in two consecutive birdies.
But Kim stabilized and continued going further below par. He parred the sixth and eighth, while making birdies at seven and nine to go around the turn at four-under.
A birdie at 11 got him to minus-five, and while he gave a stroke back at the 17th, his birdie at the last got Kim into second place.
NOTES: Two-time U.S. Open winner Lee Janzen is in the field, and shot a two- over 74. It is his first Nationwide Tour start since 1990...Won Joon Lee withdrew because, according to his Twitter account, he was "super ill and struggled to walk on the course."...Last year's champion, Ted Potter, Jr., moved on to the PGA Tour.
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