Sao Paulo, Brazil (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Weibring fired a 7-under 64 in Thursday's first round and he leads by one shot at the suspended Brasil Champions.
First-round play was delayed for about an hour and 20 minutes due to lightning. Players got back on the course around 4:20 p.m. ET and the first round was later suspended due to darkness with nine players left on the course. Those nine players will continue at 6:40 a.m. ET.
Weibring, who turned professional in 2002, is seeking his first win on the Web.com Tour. He played on the PGA Tour in 2009-10, with his best finish being a tie for eighth at the 2009 Verizon Heritage.
Darron Stiles, Tyrone Van Aswegen, Patton Kizzire and Jason Allred all carded 6-under 65s and they are tied for second at Sao Paulo Golf Club.
It is a packed top of the leaderboard as 10 players are tied for sixth at 5- under, while 14 others are tied for 16th at minus-4.
Weibring got off to a solid start as he birdied two of his first three holes on two and three. Two holes later, Weibring tripped to his lone bogey of the first round on the par-4 fifth.
It was smooth sailing from there for Weibring as he went on a huge run around the turn. The 35-year-old ripped off four birdies in a five-hole stretch from No. 7, putting him at 5-under.
Following a trio of pars from No. 12, Weibring finished strong as he made gains on 15 and 17 to go along with pars on 16 and 18.
"You want to keep your ball in play and pick your spots," said Weibring. "I just tried to hit it pin high a lot and give myself a lot of looks and I did that. It's not that easy but when there isn't a lot of wind and it's soft, any course is going to be a little vulnerable."
Stiles was one of seven players to go bogey-free and was the only one out of the players who shot 6-under 65s. Stiles was consistent in his round as he made three birdies on both the front and back nine.
Van Aswegen got off to a strong start with an eagle on four and birdies on six and eight. He later wrapped birdies on 10 and 12 around his lone bogey on 12. Van Aswegen had one more gain on the par-5 17th.
Kizzire ran off three straight birdies from No. 1 to start his round before tripping to a bogey on five. He later made back-to-back birdies on eight and nine before making another gain on 13. Kizzire finished up by wrapping gains on 16 and 18 around a bogey on 17.
Allred was up-and-down to start as he made four birdies and two bogeys on the front nine. He finished strong, however, with an eagle on the par-5 13th to go along with birdies on 11 and 15.
NOTES: Of the 144 players in the field, 99 are currently under par ... Jeff Curl, Andrew Landry and Tag Ridings, all of whom shot 66s, also finished bogey-free ... Landry went on to win by five shots at last week's Cartagena de Indias at Karibana Championship ... Weibring has made one cut in three starts this year to go along with a tie for 59th at the Colombia Championship.
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