Munoz leads vintage Love in Greenbrier

Sebastian Munoz carded a sizzling nine-under-par 61 to take a two-shot lead into the second day of the Greenbrier Classic.

The Colombian was one of the late starters and his birdie-fest denied veteran Davis Love III from hitting the round of the day.

The 53-year-old rolled back the years on the renovated Old White TPC course in West Virginia - the venue having been severely damaged by the floods which caused the cancellation of the event last year - birdieing four of the first five holes, picking up seven stroke in total with none dropped to sign for a spotless 63.

The highlight of the day for the former Ryder Cup captain, who was at the helm as the USA finally recaptured the trophy last year, was a sumptuous chip-in on 17 from the front of the green.

Munoz also came flying out of the traps, picking up strokes on five of his first six holes while his only dropped shot of the day - on 13 - was followed by four consecutive birdies.

David Lingmerth continued his excellent recent form with a fine 64 and he lies in joint-third position, three strokes off-the-pace, alongside five others including New Zealand's Danny Lee.

All eyes were on the returning Phil Mickelson, who was playing his first event since parting ways with his long-serving caddy of 25 years, Jim "Bones" Mackay.

The five-time major winner now has his brother on his bag and birdied two of his last three holes to card a three-under-par 67.

Ireland's Seamus Power is in a large group tied for 25th place on -2 after the Waterford man grabbed three birdies and a single bogey.

But it was Love who stole the show and he could hardly contain his delight afterwards.

"That's about as good as it gets," he said. "I hit it stiff at the first hole and had a nice putt at the second and actually had a look at it at the third hole. And on four and five I was just rolling it real well and hitting it real well.

"I've been working real hard the last couple of weeks on trying to fix my swing to kind of swing around a stiff back and stiff hip. I'd given up on hitting it a long way. I've just got to hit it straight. 

"This is the perfect golf course for me, everybody's got an opportunity from the fairway."

Image: Getty/Jared C. Tilton

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