Greco fires a 64 using rental clubs, leads Dev Series Final in Mazatlán

MAZATLÁN, Mexico – Despite having to play a rental set after his golf clubs were left behind in Los Angeles, John Greco of Sunnyvale, California, fired a bogey-free 7-under 64 to claim the opening round lead at the Dev Series Final at Estrella del Mar Golf Club.

“(The airline) said there was a weight distribution error in the plane at LAX, so they had to leave a lot of heavy stuff behind, including my clubs and other players’ clubs. Supposedly they came in today, but I had to figure things out with a rental set,” said the 29-year-old Greco of the stressful news he got once he made it to Mazatlán.

Greco birdied holes 2 and 7 to make the turn at 2-under and then birdied five of his next six for a number no one else was able to match. “Thankfully (Estrella del Mar) had some pretty good rental sets and we were able to do with what we had. I played a practice round to kind of figure out the numbers because the irons are a lot different from the typical stuff. (I) did pretty well and the putter was rolling nice,” added Greco, who leads Joel Thelen of Fort Worth, Texas, by one shot. Thelen, a 2023 Korn Ferry Tour member, went bogey-free for his opening 65.

Recording an ace on No. 6, where he hit a 50-degree wedge from 129 yards, Mexico’s Fernando Arzate leads a group of five players who shot 5-under 66 to share the third spot. The other 66s belonged to fellow Mexican Santiago Castilla, Argentina’s Puma Domínguez and the U.S. duo of Samuel Anderson and Chris Drysdale.

There were more fireworks on No. 6 Wednesday, with Jordan Costello of Pinedale, New York, hitting a pitching wedge to match Arzate’s ace. Costello ended up carding a 3-under 68 to make it into a tie for the 15th spot.

Featuring a field of 62 players, the 2023 Dev Series Final offers three exemptions for the 2024 PGA TOUR Americas’ Latin American Swing. At the conclusion of the 72-hole event, seven other players will walk away with conditional status for next season.