Danny Walker leads Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse after Round 1

Danny Walker ties the course record with a bogey-free 9-under 62, marking a new career low-round, and holds the first-round lead at the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse.

• Walker clinches the first outright lead of his Korn Ferry Tour career in his 61st start.
• John VanDerLaan, who finished runner-up in this event last year, opens with a 6-under 65.
• Austin Greaser, No. 3 in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2024, cards a first-round 65 to join VanDerLaan at T2.
• Nebraska native Brandon Crick logs six birdies against two bogeys for a 4-under 67 and sits solo seventh.
• Walker, Alistair Docherty (T8/3 under) and S.Y. Noh (T8/3 under) recorded the only bogey-free rounds Thursday.

First-round lead notes

1 - First-round leaders/co-leaders to win the Pinnacle Bank Championship (Alejandro Tosti, 2023)

0 - First-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2024

Charting the leader

Danny Walker (Leader/9 under)

• Tied the tournament course record and marked a new career low with a bogey-free 9-under 62 via seven birdies and one eagle.
  • Eagled the 448-yard par-4 14th, holing out from 117 yards on his second shot.
  • Added seven birdies across two par 5s, three par 4s and two par 3s.
  • Prior to Thursday, five players had recorded a 62 in the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse: Alejandro Tosti (2023/R4), Sam Stevens (2022/R4), Ben Taylor (2022/R3), Carl Yuan (2022/R3), Sam Ryder (2017/R3). Tosti and Ryder went on to win the event in their respective years.
• Marks his first-ever outright lead on the Korn Ferry Tour in his 61st career start.
  • Previously held a share of the 36-hole lead at the 2024 Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club (finished T14), his only other time as a leader/co-leader on the Tour.
• Entered the week No. 67 on the points list after logging five top-25 finishes in 19 starts this season.
  • His best finish this year came last month at The Ascendant presented by Blue where he placed T13.
• In 60 career Korn Ferry Tour starts from 2019-24, has tallied eight top-25 finishes and two top-10s (5th/2023 Utah Championship, 6th/2019 Wichita Open).
• Last season, made 15 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour and logged one top-10, finishing the season 121st on the points list.
• Secured 12 guaranteed starts to begin the 2024 season by finishing T7 at 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.
• In 2022, played primarily on PGA TOUR Canada (now PGA TOUR Americas) where he made 10 starts and tallied three top-10 finishes, including one victory.
• Originally joined the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019 after earning medalist honors at Final Stage of Q-School in 2018.
  • In his 2019 rookie season, recorded two top-25 finishes in 22 starts.
• Played four seasons at University of Virginia (2014-18), earning All-America Scholar recognition his final two seasons.
• Native of Bradenton, Florida where he helped Lakewood Ranch High School win back-to-back FHSAA Class 2A State Championships in 2011 and 2012, followed by a Class 3A title in 2013.
  • Also won the individual state title as a freshman in 2011

Quotables

Danny Walker on tying the course record with a 9-under 62… “I kind of just blacked out honestly. That was probably the best round I ever played. Things really got going when I holed out on 14 for eagle, then just played great after that. Was hitting everything where I wanted to. I was making putts. Just kind of one of those rounds where everything clicks and you don't know why, just happy that it did.”

Walker on this course being one of his favorites all season… “It's just challenging like it challenges your whole game. Got to drive it well, got to hit good irons. Like generally speaking, anything a couple under par is a solid round out here. Compared to a lot of the weeks where the cut's 6- or 7-under, it's exciting to have a challenge where par is your friend sometimes. We don't always get that.”

Scott Gutschewski on playing alongside his two sons… “It was fun, it was a lot of fun. I had a great time. … I mean, I don't know how to put it into words. I hear ‘cool’ over and over, and ‘awesome’. I just don't – yeah, it's just really neat. Really fun for me.”

Gutschewski on if he allowed himself to be a dad during competition… “I was definitely watching. I can't like help them, you know what I mean? Like I can't tell them what they're doing wrong while we're playing, or help them with making a decision and stuff like that. Luke had his ball position too far forward to start and kind of flared a few right and I was like, oh, my gosh. Can't say anything. But he figured it out. … I'm just like ‘I wish I could just say something,’ but he figured it out.”

Additional first-round notes

• After finishing runner-up in the 2023 Pinnacle Bank Championship, John VanDerLaan (T2/6 under) sits inside the top five in Omaha once again after opening with a first-round 65,
  • Last year, VanDerLaan sat inside the top three after each round (R1/T3, R2/2nd, R3/1st, R4/T2), including the outright 54-hole lead, but settled for a runner-up, his best career Korn Ferry Tour finish.
• Austin Greaser (T2/6 under), No. 3 in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2024, sits T2 with VanDerLaan after a first-round 65 via seven birdies against one bogey.
  • A former North Carolina Tar Heel, Greaser earned Korn Ferry Tour membership for the remainder of the 2024 season, and an exemption to Final Stage of 2024 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, with his top-five in the final 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking.
• Two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Trey Mullinax (T4/-5) recorded a first-round 5-under 66 which featured two eagles on par-5s (Nos. 4 and 7), the only player with multiple eagles Thursday.
• T.J. Vogel (T4/5 under) tied his best first-round score of the season with a 66 and sits inside the top 10 after 18 holes for the first time this year.
• Aldrich Potgieter (T4/5 under), a 19-year-old rookie from Pretoria, South Africa, sits T4 after the first round despite recording back-to-back double bogeys on the par-4s first and second; Potgieter added seven birdies and an eagle at the par-4 18th to claim his second top-10 position after 18 holes this season.
• Brandon Crick (7th/4 under), a native of McCook, Nebraska, and University of Nebraska alum, has appeared in all eight playings of the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse and sits inside the top-10 after 18 holes following a first-round 4-under 67.
  • Crick has three top-25 finishes in the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse, with his best finish being a T11 in 2020.
• Omaha native and three-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Scott Gutschewski (T33/1 under) and his 17-year-old son Trevor Gutschewski (T33/1 under) carded matching 1-under 70s, while Luke Gutschewski (T72/1 over), Scott’s oldest son and a senior at Iowa State, opened with a 1-over 72.
  • Luke Gutschewski and Trevor Gutschewski earned sponsor exemptions this week to mark the first Korn Ferry Tour start for either player.