Putnam leads by 1 at Rex Hospital Open

Raleigh, NC – Andrew Putnam birdied his final hole on Thursday to close out a 9-under 62 and grab a 1-stroke lead at the Rex Hospital Open.

His 62 matched a course record.

"I felt it in me, but you have to have the putts drop for a round like this," Putnam said. "I had a lot of looks at birdie and managed to roll a few in."

Chesson Hadley owns sole possession of second place at TPC Wakefield Plantation at 8-under 63.

WNB Golf Classic winner Alex Aragon is among seven players tied for third at 6-under.

He is joined by Lee Janzen, Kent Jones, Randall Hutchison, Cameron Beckman, Miguel Angel Carballo and Jason Gore.

John Chin, Jamie Lovemark, Nick Rousey, Guy Boros, Tyrone Van Aswegen and Cam Burke share 11th at minus-5.

Putnam broke into red numbers with a birdie at the third and followed that with an eagle at the par-5 fourth.

He later reeled off three straight birdies from the eighth to reach 6-under and joined Hadley atop the leaderboard with his second eagle of the day at the 15th.

After parring his next two holes, Putnam was able to grab the outright lead with a birdie at the last.

Hadley went out with the early wave and opened with a par at the first before reeling off three straight birdies from the second.

He picked up another stroke at the sixth and after recording four straight pars, the Raleigh native moved to 5-under with a birdie at the 11th.

He then closed his round by pouring in birdies at Nos. 14, 16 and 18 to hit the clubhouse with the lead until he was bested by Putnam later in the day.

"Honestly, I didn't really care how I played last week. It was about getting ready for this week, period," said Hadley, who missed the cut at last week's Air Capital Classic. "This is kind of a home course for me because I live in Raleigh. I could not have pictured a better start to the week."

NOTES: Rob Bradley and Scott Brown also recorded 62s at this event in 2003 and 2010, respectively ... The 36-hole leader last year ended his second round at 10-under ... Hadley's 63 tied his low round this season. He also shot 63 in the final round of the BMW Charity Pro-Am ... Last year's champion James Hahn is not in the field this week.