Beringer jumps out to a three-stroke, first-round lead at PGA TOUR Canada Q-School
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WESTON, Florida—American Eric Beringer knew he needed to come out and play aggressive this week. With his upcoming wedding planned for June, he told himself he needed to win this first PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying Tournament, so he could clinch guaranteed starts for the upcoming season.
“Usually I come into these (Q-Schools) and just focus on getting off to a solid start, make everything pretty simple,” Beringer reflected after his round. “My mindset was a bit different. I was a little more aggressive coming out of the gate. I hit it so well that I didn’t really have to make too many crazy putts today. I think I hit every single green in regulation, which has only happened to me a handful of times in my career.”
On a couple of his last holes this morning during the first round at The Club at Weston Hills, Beringer nearly didn’t have to putt at all. He came within a couple of feet of the hole with his approach on No. 15, which he easily sunk for birdie. Then on No. 18, he hit the flag, with the ball nearly dropping in the hole for eagle. He tapped that in for his eighth birdie of the round, finishing with an 8-under 64 on the day to lead his closest competitor, Mexico’s Luis Gerardo Garza, by three strokes.
Garza teed off in the afternoon wave not knowing what Beringer had shot or where the current leader stood. Garza currently has PGA TOUR Latinoamérica membership and has played in all three of the events in the 2022 portion of the wraparound schedule, making one cut, tying for 41st at the Scotia Wealth Management Chile Open presented by Volvo in December.
“I tried to look at the scores before I went out, but I didn’t have time to find them. So, I just tried to play my best and see what happened at the end of the day,” Garza said following his 5-under first round. “I just tried to play pretty smart, give myself chances and not try to do anything crazy. I was able to make some putts that really helped.”
Two Americans—Donnie Trosper and Brayden Garrison—are tied for third, at 4-under 68. Garrison played in seven PGA TOUR Canada events in 2022, closing the year 82nd in the Fortinet Cup standings.