Colin Featherstone holds the lead in Round 1 after 8-under 63

Things to Know

• Korn Ferry Tour rookie Colin Featherstone records a career-low 8-under 63 and holds the current lead

• Rob Oppenheim cards a first-round 64 for the second consecutive year at the Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS

• Nelson Ledesma is in line to sit inside the top-10 after 18 holes for the fourth time this season

• Jackson Suber cards the second lowest round of his rookie season with a 7-under 64

• Due to inclement weather, the first round was suspended for four hours and 53 minutes from 11:37 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. CT

• The first round was suspended due to darkness at 8:33 p.m., with 77 players needing to complete the round; the first round will resume play at 7 a.m. local time Friday

First-Round Lead Notes

0 - First-round leaders/co-leaders to win the Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS

0 - First-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2023 (last: David Lingmerth/2022 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship)

Colin Featherstone (1st/-8)

• Making 14th start of his rookie Korn Ferry Tour season this week

• First-round 8-under 63 came via nine birdies against one bogey

- Birdies came at three par 5s (Nos. 6, 13, 16), four par 4s (Nos. 3, 7, 10, 11) and two par 3s (Nos. 5, 14)

- Lone bogey Thursday was at the par-4 eighth

• Clinched a new career low on the Korn Ferry Tour (previous best was a second-round 6-under 64 at the HomeTown Lenders Championship where he finished T27)

• In 13 starts this season, has two top-25 finishes and one top-10 (T4 at Visit Knoxille Open)

- In Knoxville, made the 2-under par cut on the number and went on to card back-to-back 65s in the the third and final rounds to clinch the first top-10 finish of his career on the Tour

• Entered the week ranked No. 59 on the Points List

• Prior to this season, made one Korn Ferry Tour start at the 2022 BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX where he was an open qualifier but missed the cut

• Earned membership this season by placing T17 at Final Stage of last year’s Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament

• Prior to joining the Korn Ferry Tour, he played two full seasons on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica in 2017 and 2018, where he logged 11 top-25 finishes in 23 starts, including five top-10s, highlighted by a T2 at the 2017 NEC Argentina Classic; also made one start in 2019 and two starts in 2014

• Spent the 2016 season on PGA TOUR Canada, making 11 starts and recording three top-25 finishes

• Turned professional in 2012 after playing collegiately at San Diego State University from 2007-12

• Quit professional golf in 2020 and took a job at Titleist in the consumer testing program before returning to golf full time in March 2022

Quotables

Colin Featherstone on his rookie season up to this point… “Feeling good about it. Some good, some bad, but that's kind of how a long season goes. You have some good finishes and some bad. Game's starting to come around so I feel like I'm in a good spot.”

Featherstone on the long weather delay… “I ate, I played some pinball, and then I actually went in the car for a little bit and took a nap for about 30 minutes. I think I watched an episode of a Game of Thrones. At that point we were getting close to going back out. It was clearing up, so I could tell we might be moving pretty soon. Just wasted time the best I could.”

Featherstone on the course conditions after play resumed… “Just a little softer. Weren't getting quite as much run out on the tee shots, and then coming into the greens they were a little softer. But honestly, the course held up pretty well with all the rain we got.”

Notes

• Nelson Ledesma (T2/-7) tallied eight birdies against one bogey Thursday for a first-round 7-under 64, his fourth opening round this season of 6-under par or better

- In his fifth season on the Korn Ferry Tour, his best season was in 2019 when he logged seven top-25 finishes in 23 starts, including five inside the top 10, to earn his first PGA TOUR card

• Korn Ferry Tour winner Rob Oppenheim (T2/-7) is making his third ever start in the Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS and is coming off a T14 in last year’s event

- Carded a first-round 7-under 64 for the second consecutive year with eight birdies and one bogey

- Making just his fifth start of the season, it marks his lowest round of the year

• Rookie Jackson Suber (T2/-7) records the second lowest round of his young career with a 7-under 64 (best is 8-under 63 at the LECOM Suncoast Classic); bidding for his fifth time inside the top-10 after 18 holes this year

- Entered the week No. 53 on the Points List after starting the season with conditional status; in 11 starts this year, he has two top-10 finishes, with his best being a T5 at the AdventHealth Championship

- Spent one season on PGA TOUR Canada last year after turning professional following his collegiate career at Ole Miss from 2018-22

• Jacob Bridgeman (T5/-6) and Jacob Solomon (T5/-6) carded bogey-free 6-under 65s Thursday

- In his second season on the Korn Ferry Tour, Bridgeman has recorded seven top-25 finishes in 13 starts this year and currently sits No. 28 on the Points List

- For Solomon, it would mark his fourth time inside the top-10 after the first round this year; sat T3 after 18 holes at last week’s Compliance Solutions Championship (finished 66th)

• Taylor Dickson (T5/-6) rolled in seven birdies against one bogey for a 6-under 65, tied for his lowest first-round total this season

• Four members of the PGA TOUR University Class of 2023 currently sit T11 at 4-under par: Adrien Dumont De Chassart (T11/thru 9*), Ricky Castillo (T11/-4), Patrick Welch (T11/-4) and William Mouw (T11/-4)

- Dumont De Chassart and Castillo each won in their Korn Ferry Tour debuts earlier this month with Dumont De Chassart winning the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX and Castillo winning the following week at the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open Benefitting KU Wichita Pediatrics