LITCHEFIELD PARK, Arizona—On a day where early rain and heavy wind gave way to bright sunshine late in the afternoon, a quartet of Americans finished atop the leaderboard on the first day of PGA TOUR Canada’s fourth Qualifying Tournament of the year. Second-year pros Cooper Dossey and Riley Casey, Big 12 Conference rivals at Baylor and Oklahoma, respectively, PGA TOUR Canada veteran Eric McCardle and amateur Hunter Reed all shot 4-under 68s. They will take a one-shot lead over amateurs Jun Ho Won and Gavin Cohen and professional Joe Fryer.

Of the four leaders, Reed and Casey have the least amount of experience at The Wigwam, the venerable golf course in this part of metro Phoenix.

The duo played practice rounds Monday, the first time they had seen the course. Reed had planned on playing in an Outlaw Tour tournament here two weeks ago but withdrew due to illness.

“I hit it really well and made a few putts,” said the amateur who played college golf at Long Beach State. “I played the wind really well today, and I didn’t short side myself too much. When I did, I was able to get up and down.” Reed’s only bogey of the day came on his second hole.

“That was probably the only ball I misjudged,” he said of his approach shot that landed on the green and went back down the hill. From there he wasn’t able to get up and down. 

“I played solid today and never put myself in too many bad places. I was able to make pars and give myself looks,” Reed added. On six of those “looks,” he made birdies, to go with a pair of bogeys—at Nos. 3 and 16.

Casey had a nice close to his day, making one of the five birdies at No. 18 Tuesday. “It was good finish. It’s a tough one,” he said of The Wigwam’s closing hole. After his drive split the fairway, he hit a 9-iron approach from 147 yards to 15 feet and drained the putt.

McCardle had a disappointing finish to his day. He was 5-under through 15 holes but finished with two bogeys against a 17th-hole birdie.

On the par-3 16th, his tee shot caught the lip of the bunker and ended in a footprint in the sand. He was unable to get up and down. McCardle stopped the bleeding a little when he hit his approach shot on No. 17 to two feet for a tap-in birdie before missing the 18th-hole green in regulation and failing to make his par putt.

“On 18, it’s always tough. You always want to get it in play, and I got a little aggressive with the wind off the right. I hit it left of the creek, so I had to come back. I had a chance at making par. I just didn’t make it. Still, I’ll take a 68 every single day,” conceded McCardle.

A year ago, Dossey played in this Qualifying Tournament at The Wigwam while still an amateur and walked away disappointed, with no status on the Forme Tour, where PGA TOUR Canada players competed in 2021. He was 4-under through 54 holes in 2021 and tied for 15th place but fired a 3-over 75 on the final day to fall into a tie for 30th. His five-birdie, one-bogey performance Tuesday was two strokes better than his opening round a year ago. 

“I think the wind made some of the easy holes on the back nine easier but the hard holes harder,” Dossey explained. “I was just trying to get it as close on the green as I could on the downwind holes and then just get it on the green on the holes that were into the wind.”

There is a logjam of 10 players at 2-under 70 and two strokes behind the leaders.