Other than the fact that Jeff Maggert and Brendon de Jonge both have missed the cut five times in their last six starts on the PGA Tour, they have little in common.Maggert, 43, is a 17-year veteran from Houston with three victories and three Ryder Cup appearances on his résumé. De Jonge, who turned 27 Wednesday, is a native of Zimbabwe and a rookie on the PGA Tour.
But Brown Deer Park has always been an equal-opportunity golf course. Though neither Maggert nor de Jonge had ever played a tournament round at Brown Deer, they fired 7-under-par 63s on Thursday to share the first-round lead in the 40th annual U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.
"It felt good to finally play a good, solid round," said de Jonge, who has just one top-40 finish this year. "I'll just hopefully keep on doing what I'm doing. Obviously, it worked today."
Both played in the morning, before the wind picked up and put a damper on the birdie-fest. Of the top 10 players on the leader board, only Jay Williamson (65) played in the afternoon.
Maggert and de Jonge held a one-stroke lead over Garrett Willis, who was alone in third after a bogey-free 64. Williamson and Robert Gamez shot 65s and five others were at 66: Jesper Parnevik, Steve Elkington, Tim Herron, Craig Bowden and Tom Johnson.
The group at 67 included Wisconsin natives J.P. Hayes and Mark Wilson.
Defending champion Corey Pavin opened with a 1-under 69.
Read more here from Gary D'Amato's article in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the USBC Championship in Brown Deer, WI:
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