One year after U.S. Open debut, golfer Andrew Landry takes Digital Ally Open lead

Andrew Landry had more than enough sleep.

The 29-year-old Web.com Tour golfer from Texas spent the unanticipated off-day Thursday — the day the weekend’s Digital Ally Open had been scheduled to begin — resting.

“I laid in bed for about 30 hours,” said Landry, the tour’s top earner in 2017 so far with $276,118 in winnings. “My back was a little hurt.”

By the time he stepped onto the course here at Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate on Friday morning, one day after torrential rains had rendered the greens unplayable, Landry was in desperate need of a wakeup call.

Starting on the back nine, Landry butchered the par-4 10th. His tee shot landed in the fairway, but his next attempt found the rough. He ended with a bogie on the hole.

By the time he arrived on the front nine, however, Landry was 3-under par and rolling. He had one eagle and was tied for first with eight birdies on the day. With a bogey on the fourth hole, he finished with a 8-under 63. Four players were tied for second with scores of 64.

“I was just kind of tired and mopey (to start), then I got a birdie, and it fired me up a little bit,” said Landry, who tied for second at last week’s Pinnacle Bank Championship in Omaha, Neb. “I made a birdie and it just kind of got me back into the mix. I thought it was going to be super low today.”

Landry is looking for his seventh top-10 finish of the season, one year after qualifying for the 2016 U.S. Open and posting the best first-round score in a U.S. Open at Oakmont (Penn.) Country Club.

“I was trying to get off to a better start today because I know the greens (would) be kind of rough this afternoon and same thing for us tomorrow,” he said. “It’s hard to play catch-up when you’re putting on greens that are going to be soft and kind of plumpy, so we’ll see how it rolls.”

The last group of the day featured University of Kansas and Shawnee Mission East alum Chase Hanna, who carded a 4-under 67, including a birdie on the ninth. Hanna is tied for 28th after the opening round.

Hanna, playing with a sponsor’s exemption and making his professional debut, breezed through his first nine holes. He produced five birdies and finished the back nine with a 5-under 36.

But as he rotated to the other half of the course, Hanna lost steam. He held steady at par through most of the front nine, save for a bogey on both the par-4 4th hole and the par-3 8th hole.

The Digital Ally Open continues Saturday with the first wave of golfers teeing off at 7 a.m. The third and fourth rounds will be played Sunday.

The winner will earn $117,000 of the $650,000 total purse.

This story was originally published July 28, 2017 at 8:17 PM with the headline "One year after U.S. Open debut, golfer Andrew Landry takes Digital Ally Open lead."