McRae, Ogden tied at top of Salt Lake City Open

A year ago, the Salt Lake City Open finished in the dark at Wingpointe Golf Course with car headlights shining on the green, due to a four-hole playoff.

This year's first round at Bonneville Golf Course barely finished before dark due to a morning thunderstorm that delayed play for an hour.

Two pros, former State Amateur champion Mike McRae and former U.S. Publinks champion Clay Ogden, both fired 6-under-par 66s and stand atop the leaderboard at the City Open, sponsored by Burton Lumber.

A stroke back at 67 are Andy Duvall, a pro from Florida who is living with his parents in Park City this summer, and Sandy amateur Andrew Barton, who may have had the most impressive round of the day since he played during Saturday morning's downpour.

Six pros came in at 68, including defending champion Joseph Summerhays, his cousin Boyd Summerhays, Chris Moody, Dusty Fielding, Zach Johnson and Nick Carter. Among the 10 players at 69 are 54-year-old Jimmy Blair and his 18-year-old son Zac, who won last month's State Amateur.

The 23-year-old McRae turned pro exactly a year earlier, but says doesn't have much to show for it so far.

"It's been an eye-opener for me," he said. "It's way tougher than I thought."

He's played everywhere from Arizona to California to Thailand with a couple of top-10s as his best finishes.

In Saturday's opening round, he said he played "just solid," making a couple of 15-foot birdies and not many mistakes.

Ogden, 24, turned pro two years earlier and in just his third event, won the $4,000 first prize at the Salt Lake City Open before winning the Utah Open later in the summer.

That year he also shot an opening-round 66, but figures he needs to shoot better than the 70 he shot two years ago to win the pro prize again.

He said he "putted pretty well," making four putts over 15 feet, capped by a 25-footer at the par-3 17th hole. His only bogey of the day came at No. 14.

The leaders will all be re-paired for today's final round at Wingpointe with the leaders teeing off at 2:20 p.m.

Salt Lake City Open

Bonneville Golf Course

Par-72

a-denotes amateur

66 — Clay Ogden, Mike McRae