SANTIAGO, CHILE—Playing in perfect, calm conditions Thursday morning at Hacienda Chicureo Club, Brian Bullington of Frankfort, Illinois, and Julián Etulain of Coronel Suarez, Argentina, shot 7-under 65s to share the opening-round lead at the Scotia Wealth Management Chile Open presented by Volvo. The co-leaders of the third event of the 2022-23 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica season finished the day one shot ahead of California’s Matt Ryan, who recorded a bogey-free 66 with the wind picking up in the afternoon.

Michigan native Alex Scott carded a 67 to rank solo fourth, while a group of five players, that includes Chile’s own Cristóbal Del Solar and Benjamín Saiz Wenz, are tied for fifth with 68s. Both Chileans are coming off Sunday wins, with Del Solar winning the Neuquén Argentina Classic for his fourth PGA TOUR Latinoamérica career win and Saiz Wenz winning a Chilean Tour event for his first pro win.

After missing the cut the past two weeks in Argentina, the 29-year old Bullington decided to change his approach. “Today I just wanted to play like a didn’t care, and I did a great job at that. It’s funny how that works. I hit it great, made a few putts, and with little wind in the morning it was a really good round,” said the University of Iowa alum who is entering his third season on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica after playing here in 2016 and 2018.

Opening his day with a bogey on 11, his second hole of the day, Bullington played flawless golf the rest of the way. He hit his tee shot within two feet at the par-3 14th to make his first of four birdies in five holes. He picked up his pace again on No. 3, starting another string of four birdies in five holes.

“I know that my game is in a good spot. It’s more just about letting it happen, and today I finally did. I’ll take a lot of confidence from it,” said Bullington, who matched his PGA TOUR Latinoamérica career-low with his 65. He had recorded his previous 65 on Tour in the fourth round of the 2016 Mexico Open.

Playing a course with so many slopes as Hacienda Chicureo Club, Etulain took his precautions early in the week. “I played a practice round on Monday, but I didn’t play either on Tuesday or Wednesday. I walked the course though, focusing on marking the greens pretty well because I usually struggle reading the greens on a course in the mountains,” said Etulain, a four-time PGA TOUR Latinoamérica champion, warming up to play the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour season.

The 34-year-old got off to a bit of a slow start Thursday, but after saving two great pars, on Nos. 13 and 14, he took off. “I hit two bad shots and saved par with two great up-and-downs on consecutive holes. After doing so, everything became a little easier. I struck it really well off tee, hitting a lot of shots close,” said Etulain of his birdies on seven of the next 12 holes for his bogey-free 65.

Did you know Julián Etulain spend two full seasons on the PGA TOUR? The man who claimed PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Player of the Year honors in 2014 has made 49 career starts. As a TOUR rookie in 2016-17, he made 22 appearances and finished 161st on the FedExCup standings. After claiming his lone Korn Ferry Tour win, at the 2018 Chitimacha Louisiana Open, he made it back on TOUR in 2018-19, making 24 starts and finishing 176th on the FedExCup.

Key Information

The opening-round scoring average came at 73.21 at the 7,349-yard par-72 at Hacienda Chicureo Club. There were 20 rounds in the 60s and 45 sub-par rounds.

In the tie for the lead, Brian Bullington is in position to snap a streak of nine consecutive missed cuts on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. He missed the weekend in all seven of his 2018 starts, his last full season on Tour, and then started this season missing the cut in the two events in Argentina.

Joining BrianBullington at the top, Julián Etulain is also coming off a missed cut this past week, at the Neuquén Argentina Classic, where he shot a couple of 74s. Etulain has recorded four wins in 56 career PGA TOUR Latinoamérica starts.

Solo third after a bogey-free 66, Matt Ryan made his six birdies of the day on the first 10 holes. With the wind picking up late in the afternoon, he had to fight hard to keep his card clean, with pars on the final eight holes. “The back nine was tough. It got really windy, the greens got super firm and there were some pins that you just couldn’t go after,” said the 36-year old who is loving the conditions, which he finds similar to that of his native California.

Making his first start as Totalplay Cup No. 1, Sweden’s Linus Lilliedahl had a tough time at Hacienda Chicureo Thursday. After making two birdies for a bogey-free front nine, he shot 4-over 40 on the back, making three bogeys and a double bogey for an opening, 2-over 74. Coming off back-to-back runner-up finishes, Lilliedahl will enter Friday tied for 75th.

Fresh off his win at the Neuquén Argentina Classic, Cristóbal Del Solar posted his fifth consecutive round in the 60s, firing a 4-under 68. The 29-year-old from Viña del Mar had five birdies and only one bogey. “I struck it great. It was a very solid round. I’m just taking things one step at a time,” said Del Solar, who was paired with co-leader Julián Etulain for the first two days of the tournament.

There are four Chileans players inside the top-10, with Cristóbal Del Solar and Benjamín Saiz Wenz leading the way in a tie for fifth, at 4-under 68. The other two are amateurs—Martín Cancino and Cristóbal Sepúlveda—who posted 69s to make it into a tie for 10th. From a group of 24 local players in the field, the following are the 10 currently in position to make the cut for the top 55 and ties.

The field is down to 141 players with Matt Gilchrest, Blair Bursey and David Pastore withdrawing during the opening round.

First-Round Weather: Sunny and clear, with a high of 98. Wind SW at 11-26 mph, the win picking up in the afternoon.