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 Castro had stretches of five birdies from six holes on both the
front and back nine in his bogey-free round at soggy Country Club of
Jackson where players were able to lift, clean and place balls
following a recent downpours.
Tied for second were fellow American Bryce Molder and Australian
Aaron Baddeley, who both carded 64s, one stroke better than
Englishman Brian Davis and Canadian Adam Hadwin.
Baddeley and Davis both chipped in for eagle at the short par-four
15th, which played at 317 yards.
Molder reached seven-under with his birdie at the 10th but managed
just two more birdies the rest of the way.
"I was thinking 'let's keep the pedal down' and had some
opportunities but they didn't fall," said Molder.
Bunched at six-under 66 were Canadian Graham DeLaet, Andres Romero
of Argentina, Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas and Americans Andrew Loupe
and Michael Kim.
First-round play was suspended due to darkness with nine players
still on the course.
While more celebrated players were contesting the World Golf
Championships-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, Castro took aim at
his first PGA win at an event that has crowned eight first-time
winners including former world number one Luke Donald in 2002.
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Castro, the nephew of former LPGA Tour player Jenny Lidback of Peru,
won attention on tour two years ago when he shot an opening day 63
at The Players Championship to equal the course record shared by
Fred Couples and Greg Norman.
Castro, whose 62 on Thursday marked a career low, also had his best
career finish on the PGA Tour a month later when he finished
runner-up to Bill Haas at the 2013 AT&T National.
(Editing by Steve Keating.)
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