Hubbard Up by One at Puerto Rico Open


Mark Hubbard opened with a 4-under 68 to take the 18-hole lead at the Puerto Rico Open. The $3 million PGA Tour event, being played concurrently with the WGC-Cadillac Championship in Miami, got underway Thursday at Trump International Golf Club.

Hubbard, a 25-year-old rookie who made national news last month when he proposed to Meaghan McCurley on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach during the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, carded six birdies and two bogeys for a one-stroke lead over fellow Americans Chris Smith and 48-year-old Billy Mayfair and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo.

The course offered low scores grudgingly as it was swept throughout the day by high winds; gusts reached 30 mph. "It played tough out there with the wind, but I hit a lot of really good kind of three-quarter and half-shots into the wind," said Hubbard, a San Jose State grad.

"I actually probably played into the wind holes better than the downwind holes where I had to just hit normal shots. But I drove it pretty well, kept it in the fairway and made a lot of solid 5-, 6-footers."

"It was super-windy," added Smith, a 45-year-old from Indiana. "I think it's going to be like that all week."

Eleven players opened with 70s. Among that group are a few seasoned veterans in their 40s - David Duval, Rod Pampling and Dicky Pride.

Duval, a former No. 1 who now works as an analyst on the Golf Channel, hasn't won on the Tour since the 2001 Open Championship. "I hit it good and I putted really well," said Duval. "I made a couple to keep me going, two-putted several times from 25 to 40 feet and didn't have to sweat over the second one."

Defending champion Chesson Hadley was among 10 players who posted 1-under 71s.

For all the scores, visit http://www.pgatour.com/content/pgatour/tournaments/puerto-rico-open/leaderboard.html.