Andres Romero was slightly confused about where he stood after the first round of the Reno-Tahoe Open. He could rest easily, however. He had the lead.
The Argentine made seven birdies and no bogeys to score 14 points in the Modified Stableford scoring system and take the lead over Seung-yul Noh by a point.
"It's unusual to see scores on the board like (plus) 14 or 12 or whatever," Romero said through an interpreter.
Romero is not used to such a clean card.
"I usually have a lot birdies and bogeys as well," he said. "I'm usually very aggressive."
The Stableford system - which awards players point values for pars, birdies and bogeys as opposed to tracking their score in relation to par - can confuse players and fans at first. For once, positive numbers are good.
It's the first time the system has been used in the event and the first time on the PGA Tour since The International in 2006.
Romero never competed in The International, gaining his PGA Tour card in 2008 - two years after the last edition of the Colorado event. He has never played a tournament under the Modified Stableford format.
While he may be unfamiliar with the format, Romeo is used to playing at altitude. He grew up in a mountainous part of Argentina.
"Even though this is a different course in the PGA Tour, I'm used to it," he said. "I really like these courses, and this course in particular is very beautiful."
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