Bogota, Colombia (SportsNetwork.com) - Roberto Diaz fired a 9-under 62 on Thursday and he grabbed a 3-stroke lead after one round of the Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship.
Diaz posted his best tour finish last year at the Rex Hospital Open, where he tied for fourth. He missed the cut last week in Panama.
Darron Stiles, who has five Web.com Tour titles, carded a 6-under 65 and is alone in second place on the Fundadores Course at Bogota Country Club.
Patton Kizzire and Tyler McCumber, who both missed the cut in Panama, opened with 66s. They were joined in third place by Will Wilcox.
Steve Marino, Aaron Watkins, Chase Wright and Zack Fischer share sixth place at minus-4.
Diaz opened with four pars and a birdie in his first five holes. He converted a birdie try on the sixth. Diaz followed with birdies at seven and eight to move to minus-4.
The Mexican followed a par at the ninth with another hot stretch of golf around the turn.
Diaz birdied the par-5 10th and kept rolling as he birdied 11 and 12 to jump to 7-under. He remained there with four consecutive pars. Diaz closed his round with back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18.
"I attacked the holes that I could and on the other holes, I played pretty safe. It's a fun course. You can hit it a mile if you can get it up in the air," Diaz stated.
Stiles started his round with a birdie on the 10th. He gave that shot back as he stumbled to a bogey on the par-3 12th. Stiles rebounded with birdies at 14 and 16, before he ran off four straight pars around the turn.
The 41-year-old moved to 4-under with birdies at three and five. Stiles closed his round with an eagle at the par-5 ninth.
"This is how far I hit it 20 years ago. I'd like to stay at this altitude all year. It's an adjustment, but having been here a couple of times you learn how far things go," said Stiles of the course, which is 8,660 feet above sea level.
"This week you've got to hit the ball in the fairway because the trees are so big. It's hard to get out of those unless you get a couple of breaks. I don't know if I drove the ball all that well. I hit it in the rough, but the holes you can score on, I hit it in the right spot."
NOTES: Diaz's 62 was a new course record ... He broke the old mark of 63, which Alex Cejka set last year ... Diaz shared the first-round lead last year at the United Leasing Championship before finishing tied for 19th.
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