Petrovic, Weir near top as Round 1 gets underway

THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS - After days of non-stop rain, Round 1 of the Insperity Invitational finally got underway on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Play was called for the night at 7:43 p.m. with Tim Petrovic in the lead at 6-under through 12 holes.

"I knew I was playing pretty well, just tried to stay patient," said Petrovic, who is looking for his first career win. "I hit a really nice shot on the first hole. I hit a 6-iron on the par 5 and hit it about like two feet and made eagle and that kind of got me going."

Petrovic, who started on the back nine, will resume Round 1 at 7:15 a.m. on Sunday on the tee box of hole No. 4.

The plan is to try and complete a 36-hole official event.

"Trying to get 36 holes," said Brian Claar, VP of Rules. "All these guys have been around all week so we're doing everything we can to complete an official event and get them paid."

Mike Weir also got off to a fast start in search of his first PGA TOUR Champions win.

Weir started with birdie on No. 1 and has made five birdies through 13 holes.

"It was a fast and furious start because we know we're at best going to get 36 holes," said Weir while putting his clubs in his car when play was called. "So kind of did what I wanted to do, accomplished making some birdies and getting off to a good start."

Both Petrovic and Weir have been close to winning. Petrovic has seven career runner-up finishes including five in 2018 while Weir already has a pair of runner-up finishes in only 13 starts.

Chris DiMarco, Paul Broadhurst and Vijay Singh are all at 4-under while 12 players re T6 at 3-under including John Daly and Scott McCarron.

Petrovic was asked if the weekend has been a whirlwind with all the delays and rain.

"No, it's not much of a whirlwind. I sat in my bus for two days and ate pizza."