Shintaro Ban and David Wicks Share Lead at Q-School – Round One Delayed Due to Darkness

San Antonio, Texas — Shintaro Ban and David Wicks took advantage of damp conditions at the opening Q-School of the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada season on Tuesday at TPC San Antonio, each firing 7-under par 65 to sit one clear of Baxter Ward.

Due to an hour-long fog delay to begin the day, not all players finished their opening rounds.

Ban had one of the most adventurous days among the 120 players in the tournament, posting 12 threes, including two eagles on his front nine, the second in the form of a hole-out from 105 yards.

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Qualifying Tournament No. 1

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“The first one was a pretty simple chip and had a good look at it and it went in like a putt,” said Ban. “The second one was unexpected. It was on the famous hole No. 18. It’s pretty crazy, I just laid up and played it safe, I knew the hole location was pretty tough and it just ended up dropping in.”

The day would only get zanier for the 2018 University of Nevada Las Vegas grad. Following five consecutive threes from hole Nos. 3-7, Ban hit his tee shot right and ended up making a triple bogey.

“It’s bound to happen; the course is tough and it’s only the first day,” said Ban. “There’s nothing to get mad about, I shot 7-under and if you were going to ask me before the round, I would take it, so I’m very happy with where I stand.”

Ban would rebound on the final hole, knocking his approach to tap-in range to end his day with a birdie.

In the afternoon wave, David Wicks managed to match Ban’s 65 thanks to three-consecutive birdies to end his day.

“The front nine was cagey. I hadn’t played a tournament in five months, so I had to get rid of some cobwebs,” said the Englishman. “We played the back nine as a group really well and I managed to get to five-under on the back nine and can hopefully take that into tomorrow and the rest of the week.”

Among those to finish their rounds, Wicks was one of only two players without a bogey on their card.

“A 65, I would’ve taken it on the first tee, of course,” said Wicks. “I still left a few out there and I’ll play two or three holes differently tomorrow, but I’ll take it for the first day.”

Round one will resume at 7:30 A.M. local time, with round two beginning at 7:45 A.M.

Key Information

• Shotaro Ban, the older brother of Shintaro Ban, is currently playing in the PGA TOUR China qualifier in Guangzhou. Shotaro played at Cal and had limited success in China in 2018. Through one round, Ban is 1-over and T22.
• Baxter Ward’s best score in 99 rounds at Stephen F. Austin University was 67. He beat that number by one on Tuesday with a six-under 66.
• Highlighted by an eagle on hole No. 17, 2017 U.S. Amateur Champion Doc Redman shot 5-under on Tuesday.
• Austin Quick, who finished in 41^st spot on the 2016 PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Order of Merit upon graduating from Arizona State University, shot a 4-under 68, highlighted by a hole-out eagle on the par-4 fifth hole.
• Peter French, who was a four-time NAIA All-American at Johnson and Wales University and was the Jack Nicklaus Award recipient in 2016, made only a single bogey to go along with four birdies and an eagle for an opening 67.
• Bryson Nimmer arrived at TPC San Antonio just a day removed from finishing 47^th in his PGA TOUR debut at the Puerto Rico Open. Continuing his strong play, Nimmer made three birdies and an eagle to fire a 70.
• Scott Secord is the low-Canadian after an opening-round 71. After a slow start, the Calgary native made three birdies in his final five holes.
• Tom E. Moore made three birdies and was the only player other than Wicks to complete his round without a bogey.

Quotable

“I didn’t really hit incredible shots, but I got the putter really hot and nailed four-in-a-row early. I had a nice look on 16 and missed it, but then birdied the last two coming in for a 30 which was nice for sure.” – Baxter Ward

“It’s a brand-new day tomorrow. Whenever I had to hit a golf shot today, I managed to do it. This course is one where sometimes you just have to stand in there and hit a golf shot, so hopefully, I can continue that tomorrow.” – Baxter Ward

“I just tried to keep it simple, lots of fairways and greens, obviously avoid bunkers out here, it’s not really ideal being in any of those, as long as you stay out of those and keep doubles off the card, it’s a marathon so you want to take it slow and keep it going.”  – Peter French

“This was a learning experience, I Monday qualified into the Osprey Valley Open. The Monday didn’t finish up, so we came back and played one hole. One of the other guys in my group withdrew, and I just happened to sign his card mistakenly instead of attesting my own score, which is unfortunate and something I won’t have happen again.” – Peter French

“As long as I stay patient all week, it’s a long week, good and bad things will happen, so you have to move forward with the bad and take the good from everything else.” – Peter French

“I was pretty confident coming in here, my game was in really good shape and I had just hit the ball really well out there and I didn’t really hit it in the trees, and when you do that you can really shoot a good score.”- Austin Quick

“It’s a four-day tourney, I had one good day but that really doesn’t mean too much in the grand scheme of things, the wind can pick up and all that stuff so I just have to stay focused.” – Austin Quick

How the Tournament Works

There are 120 players competing this week with hopes of earning Mackenzie Tour membership for the 2019 season. Below is a breakdown of the status available at each of the six Qualifying Tournaments:

First-Round Weather: Overcast. High of 20. Wind at 15 KPH.