STUNNING START

LOS ANGELES: Colombia’s Sebastian Muñoz fired a stunning 12-under par 60 on Thursday (Friday in Manila) to seize a four-stroke lead at the PGA Tour’s Byron Nelson tournament in suburban Dallas.

The 29-year-old from Bogota, whose only PGA title came at the 2019 Sanderson Farms Championship, went 10-under in his last 10 holes to dominate the early starters at TPC Craig Ranch. “It’s a great feeling whenever everything is clicking,” Muñoz said. “When everything is going it’s just stay out of the way and just kind of let it happen. So that’s what I did.”

He was four strokes in front of a quartet of players that featured defending champion Lee Kyounghoon of South Korea, Chile’s Mito Pereira and Americans Peter Malnati and Justin Lower.

Pereira’s 64 was a career-low in his 80th career PGA Tour round. Malnati had two eagles in a round for the first time in his PGA career.

Lee’s bogey-free effort at TPC Craig Ranch included an 11-foot eagle at the 12th, while Lower holed out for an eagle at the parfour 10th.

Muñoz became the first player in Tour history with two rounds of 60 or better in the same season, having also shot a 10-under 60 in the first round of last November’s RSM Classic, where he finished third.

“I think this was a little more impressive. I mean, it was par-72. I never shot 12-under,” Muñoz said.

“But this one was definitely impressive. That one I was playing with Corey Conners that day and

I thought he was going to shoot 59. That kind of inspired my push.

“Today, I don’t know. I just kind of kept it going and I just wanted to get more looks, more looks and more chances, and I just kind of went crazy with it.”

The South American rolled in his first birdie at the par-4 second, then holed a 25-foot birdie putt at the par-5 fifth and dropped his approach to three feet at the sixth.

Muñoz was way left beyond a cart path off the eighth tee and made his lone bogey before starting his astonishing finish with a 15-foot eagle putt at the par-5 ninth.