Zack Fischer, Harrison Endycott share first-round lead at Huntsville Championship

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Zack Fischer and Harrison Endycott carded matching 7-under 63s in Thursday’s first round of the Huntsville Championship, giving each of them a share of the 18-hole lead at The Ledges.

Fischer, a 32-year-old who plays from Benton, Arkansas, began his round on the back nine and opened with three straight birdies. Fischer added two more birdies at the par-4 first and par-5 fourth before his only bogey of the day, a five at the par-4 sixth. The University of Texas-Arlington alum ended his round the same way he started, as he tallied another trio of birdies on Nos. 7-9 and carded his third 64 of the season.

“I didn’t even realize it,” Fischer said of his two birdie trios. “The first three birdies were really nice, because No. 11 is playing really, really hard. I hit a really good shot in there, just holed some putts, which was really nice. I hit a lot of good shots and gave myself a ton of good looks.”

Fischer is in his fifth season on the Korn Ferry Tour and making his 102nd start, but this marks his first 18-hole lead or co-lead on Tour. In fact, Fischer’s only previous lead in a Korn Ferry Tour event was earlier this season, when he stood T1 after 54 holes at The Panama Championship; he finished T5 and began a run of three consecutive top-25s.

Fischer, who turned professional in 2011, earned medalist honors at the 2013 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament for fully exempt status in 2014, playing full-time on the Korn Ferry Tour through the end of the 2017 season, after which he lost status until November 2021, when he became the first two-time medalist in the modern era of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament.

Endycott’s first round was a tale of two nines. The 25-year-old Australian made the turn at 2-under following seven pars and two birdies (Nos. 2 and 8) on the front. Endycott immediately picked up momentum after the turn, carding an eagle on the par-5 10th and followed birdies on Nos. 11 and 12.

“Made a nice eagle on No. 10, a really nice birdie up No. 11 – that pin was tricky to get back to and I squeezed one in the back corner – and then made a pretty gettable birdie on No. 12,” said Endycott. “I had one loose swing on No. 13, but I wasn’t too panicked about it. It was nice to get on that little heater there.”

After Endycott’s lone bogey of the day at the par-3 13th, he bounced back with birdies at Nos. 15 and 18 to secure a share of the 18-hole lead for the second time of his young career. Endycott previously held a share of the 18-hole lead at the 2021 Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS.

“I have my lines and where I want to go at,” said Endycott, who finished T13 at last year’s inaugural Huntsville Championship. “I played well here last year and just stuck to that same plan. There are a few tee shots there you have to trust, and same with second shots into some greens as well. I did a really good job of that today. It was nothing amazing, just simple golf.”

Endycott is in search of his first top-10 finish of the 2022 season. As a rookie in 2020-21, Endycott logged three top-10s and six top-25s across 35 starts and finished 81st on the Regular Season Points List.

Second-round tee times will from 6:35 a.m. through 1:56 p.m. local time off the first and 10th tees.