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Baker ties course record to take first-round lead at Korn Ferry Tour Championship

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NEWBURGH, IN - AUGUST 30: Chris Baker tees off on the 15th tee during the first round of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance at Victoria National Golf Club on August 30, 2019 in Newburgh, Indiana. (Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

NEWBURGH, IN - AUGUST 30: Chris Baker tees off on the 15th tee during the first round of the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance at Victoria National Golf Club on August 30, 2019 in Newburgh, Indiana. (Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)



    Written by Preston Smith @WebDotComTour

    Chris Baker comments after tying course record at Korn Ferry Tour Championship


    First-Round Leaderboard

    Pos. Name Scores
    1 Chris Baker 63 (-9)
    2 Joseph Bramlett 64 (-8)
    3 Julián Etulain 66 (-6)
    Shubhankar Sharma 66 (-6)

    NEWBURGH, Ind. — Three weeks after finishing one spot outside of The 25 in Portland and failing to earn a PGA TOUR card, Chris Baker carded an opening-round 9-under 63 to take a one-stroke lead at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance. The 63 ties a course record at Victoria National Golf Club set in 2016 by Sebastián Vázquez.

    “It's an awesome way to start,” said Baker. “You don't just wake up and think you're going to do something like that…Hit it great, and to be honest, if possible to be stress-free, it was really stress-free. Even coming down the stretch there, those finishing holes are among some of the most difficult we play all year and I hit some great shots on those.”

    After two pars and a birdie to start his round, Baker holed out for eagle at the par-4 fourth from 116 yards out. He went on to post two more birdies on the front nine to turn in 5-under 31.

    “I made a nice putt on the [third] hole prior and anytime you make a shot from the fairway for eagle, it's pretty good,” said Baker. “This was always one of those courses that you heard of. There were always the legends, we'll call them, of Victoria National. I always just heard how awesome it was and about the incredible views.”

    The Jacksonville Beach, Florida, resident tacked on four more birdies on the back nine en route to the 63. He hit all 18 greens in regulation and 13 out of 14 fairways off of the tee. Entering the week, Baker ranked 16th in greens in regulation and third in driving accuracy. The four toughest holes at Victoria National on Friday ran from Nos. 14-18, excluding the par-5 15th. Baker went 2-under through that stretch.

    Baker is no stranger to southern Indiana. The 33-year-old grew up two hours away in Brownstown, Indiana, and in 2009, won his first professional golf tournament in the state on the Hooters Tour at 23 years old. That win came at Quail Crossing Golf Course, less than five miles away from Victoria National.

    “It's always nice to have some fans and friends, and they'll come down this weekend,” said Baker. “Yeah, it's great to be home and have some support. I love the Indiana fans.”

    This is the second time that Baker has at least tied a course record this season on the Korn Ferry Tour. He shot an 11-under 60 at the REX Hospital Open in June to set a new course record before tying the mark at Victoria National on Friday. With six top-10s this season, Baker came up one spot short of earning a TOUR card when he finished 26th on the season-long points list after the WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by KraftHeinz. The Iowa State University alum has only made one start on the PGA TOUR in over a decade as a professional. This week marks his 143rd start on the Korn Ferry Tour.

    Baker’s top finish on the Korn Ferry Tour came at the 2017 Panama Championship where he finished runner-up. He led after 54 holes at the REX Hospital Open before finishing T4.

    Joseph Bramlett holed out for eagle at the par-5 ninth to finish his round on Friday, capping an 8-under 64 to draw within one stroke of the lead. The Stanford alum steamrolled through his second nine, the front nine, posting a 6-under 30 coming in. He went birdie-birdie-eagle over his last three holes.

    “I made a couple, I missed a couple and then got a lot coming in those last three holes,” said Bramlett. “I had lost some momentum on the back nine…I felt like we were kind of slowing down a little bit. Then I made a great 20-footer for birdie on seven and then stuffed a wedge to a foot on eight and looped it on nine, so I feel like we got things going again.”

    This is the first time the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance is being hosted by Victoria National. The course hosted a regular season event on Tour, the United Leasing & Finance Championship, from 2012-2018.

    Saturday’s second-round tee times will run in two waves off of the first and 10th tees from 6:45 a.m. to 1:33 p.m.

    FRIDAY NOTES:

    * Friday’s weather: Partly cloudy with a high of 87. Winds S/SW 6-12 miles per hour. Preferred lies were used during Friday’s opening round.

    * This week marks the concluding event of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. Twenty-five PGA TOUR cards were awarded following the WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by KraftHeinz. An additional 25 cards are up for grabs this week, as well as positioning for all 50 cards.

    * Six of 26 first-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win this season on the Korn Ferry Tour, most recently Nelson Ledesma at the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes.

    * Chris Baker holds the individual 18-hole lead for the first time in his Korn Ferry Tour career. Previously, he was T1 after the first round of the 2014 Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae, eventually finishing T31.

    * Baker’s 9-under 63 tied the course record at Victoria National Golf Club set by Sebastián Vázquez in 2016. Earlier this season, Baker set the course record at the REX Hospital Open after posting an 11-under 60 in the second round at The Country Club at Wakefield Plantation.

    * Baker finished 26th in the Regular Season points list, but recent history is on his side. Two of the last three players to finish 26th in the Regular Season have gone on to earn their PGA TOUR card, and those players have combined for five victories already on the PGA TOUR (Xander Schauffele, Keith Mitchell).

    * Joseph Bramlett entered the week ranked 17th in The Finals 25. The 31-year-old finished the Regular Season ranked 32nd on the points list.

    * Bramlett’s 64 on Friday was good for his best score at Victoria National Golf Club and was his second time breaking 70 at the 7,242-yard layout. Last season, he finished T11 at the United Leasing & Finance Championship in Evansville.

    * Earlier this season, Bramlett held the 18-hole lead at the REX Hospital Open before finishing in a tie for 26th.

    * Julián Etulain is making his third Korn Ferry Tour start of the season. The 31-year-old made 12 cuts in 24 starts on the PGA TOUR during the 2018-19 season and finished 176th in the FedExCup standing.

    * India’s Shubhankar Sharma sits T3 after an opening-round 66. Sharma missed the cut in each of the two previous Korn Ferry Tour Finals events.

    * This summer, Sharma made seven cuts in all seven of his starts on the PGA TOUR and recorded two top-25 finishes.

    * Of the players who earned their PGA TOUR cards during the Regular Season, Henrik Norlander leads the group at T10 after posting a 4-under 68 on Friday.

    * This week’s purse is $1,000,000, with $180,000 going to the champion. The champion will also receive 1,000 Korn Ferry Tour points.

    * Sixty-four former Korn Ferry Tour champions are competing in the field, amounting to 99 victories, as well as 18 PGA TOUR champions (equaling 42 victories).

    * This marks the first time Victoria National Golf Club has hosted the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. The course previously hosted the Korn Ferry Tour’s United Leasing & Finance Championship from 2012-2018.

    * Friday’s round marked the second time Victoria National Golf Club featured a scoring average under-par on the Korn Ferry Tour. Players averaged an opening-round score of 71.672 on Friday. The third round of 2012 United Leasing & Finance Championship had a scoring average of 71.86.

    * Last season, Victoria National Golf Club ranked as the hardest course on the Korn Ferry Tour playing to an average of 74.49. The par-4 14th, par-4 18th and par-4 sixth ranked as the three hardest holes on Tour in 2018.

    * The par-4 17th hole (454 yards) ranked as the toughest hole on the course on Thursday with a scoring average of 4.410.

    * The par-5 15th hole (548 yards) ranked as the easiest hole on Thursday with an average of 4.582.

    * Victoria National Golf Club Scoring Average:

    FrontBackTotal
    Round 135.557 36.11571.672
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