Jacob Bridgeman got his professional golf career off with a very good start in the first round of the Rex Hospital Classic in Raleigh.

Bridgeman shot an opening round 4-under par 67 and is in a large 12 way tie for 19th place.

The Clemson grad, from Inman, started on the back-9 at Wakefield Plantation and put three birdies on his score card before making the turn.

He opened his second nine holes with his only bogey of the day, but got the shot back and shaved another one off of par when he birdied both par-5s on his final nine holes.

The reigning ACC Champion finished second in the PGA University rankings to earn a full exemption into the remaining Korn-Ferry events this year, but the exemption does not start until next week at the BMW Charity Pro-Am in Greenville and Spartanburg.

To play this week in Raleigh, Bridgeman shot a 63 in Monday qualifying to earn his spot in the field.

When Clemson was unable to advance to the NCAA Championship a few weeks ago, Bridgeman decided to see if he could get a jump start to his professional career.

“Since I was in the top-five I asked (the PGA Tour) if I could just go to Raleigh and get in a week early. They said no. The BMW would be the first event for the top-5, so I decided to try to Monday qualify and get started a week early and it worked out,” he said.

Trent Phillips finished play in the NCAA Championship with his Bulldog teammates in Arizona and was on the tee today in Raleigh.

The Georgia grad from Inman, was in the field after gaining an exemption with his win in the Williams Cup last fall.

Phillips shot a 3-under par 68 to be in an even bigger group of golfers tied with the same score. There are 27 golfers tied for the 31st place.

Jeremy Paul shot an 8-under par 63 to hold a 1-shot lead after the first round.

A number of players with local ties are in the tournament.

Winthrop grad Taylor Dickson is 2-shots out of the lead after carding a 6-under par 65.

Clemson grad Carson Young, from Pendleton, held the lead early in the round before finishing with a 5-under par 65 and in a tie for sixth place.

In all 105 of the 156 golfers in the field shot even par or better.

First round scores from the Rex Hospital Classic https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour/leaderboard.html

Morgan struggles in the opening round of the US Open

Furman rising senior Anna Morgan had some trouble during her first round at the US Open.

The USGA national championship is being played at Pine Needles in Southern Pines.

Morgan finished with a 5-over par 75.

Four straight bogeys on holes 15 through 18 left the Lady Paladin golfer from Spartanburg in a tie for the 125th spot in the 156 player field.

The reigning US Amateur champion Jensen Castle shot a 3-over par 73 and is in a tie for the 86th place.

The first round leader is Mina Harigae who posted a 7-under par 64 to lead LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad by a shot.

Lindblad, who won the Clemson Invitational in March, shot a 6 under par 65 to now own the record for lowest score by an amateur in the Open.

First round scores from the US Women’s Open https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2022/u-s–women-s-open.html#!scoring