Strom Clubhouse Leader – NBC Sports

MORGANTOWN, W.V. — Summer thunderstorms once again took center stage in the opening round of this weeks Futures tournament — the Betty Puskar Futures Golf Classic. Players ran for cover when a thunderstorm rolled through at 12:45 PM. The nearly two-hour suspension lasted until 2:40 PM. But once the morning rounds resumed at The Pines Country Club, Lisa Strom of Huntersville, N.C., emerged as the clubhouse leader at 6-under-par 66. Strom was soon shadowed by Reilley Rankin of Hilton Head Island, S.C., who fired a first-round 67 to remind Strom that she held a tenuous one-shot lead. This course reminds me of Merrillville, said Rankin, of the Innsbrook Country Club in Merrillville, Ind., where she won her first professional event in May. I wanted opportunities out here and this course gives you that. Strom made the most of her opportunities on the hilly, tree-lined 6,276-yard course. She rattled in three birdies and 11 putts on her first nine holes, then rolled in three more birdies on her second nine ‘ two of which came after the storm delay. Perhaps more importantly, Strom rammed in seven par-saving putts that ranged from four to 20 feet in length. I was putting like
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