BUCARAMANGA, Colombia—A spectacular birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie finish propelled Matt Ryan to the top of the leaderboard at the weather-delayed Colombia Classic presented by Rocha Brothers Thursday. The 36-year old from California went on to fire a 9-under 61 to finish the day holding the clubhouse lead by three shots over fellow U.S. players Brent Ito, Chris Nido, Austin Hitt and Mexico’s Diego Cordova.

With foggy conditions forcing the suspension of play twice at Ruitoque Golf Country Club, all 72 players in the second wave were unable to complete the opening round. Among those who were still on the course when officials called play for the day due to darkness, Argentina’s Andrés Gallegos is at 7-under with three holes to play. Colombia’s Juan Pablo Luna is just another shot behind at 6-under with six holes to play. The first round is scheduled to resume at 6:40 a.m. Friday.

“It was awesome. I mean, 61s are great. My last four (holes) were awesome,” said Ryan, who ranks eighth on the PGA TOUR Latinamérica’s Totalplay Cup standings with a win in Chile and another top-10 in Argentina this season.

Ryan opened the day with a birdie on 10, and after the first fog-related suspension, he resumed his round with a bogey on 12, where he had a pitching wedge approach onto that green but stumbled.

“I walked off the green, and I told myself, ‘This isn’t going to be Ecuador all over again,’ because every time I seemed to get going in Ecuador I would make a bogey with a wedge. I think the self-talk was good today,” said Ryan, who got back on track with birdies on 14, 15 and 18.

At 4-under for the day after a birdie at the third, his 12th hole of the day, Ryan managed to get out of trouble at the par-4 No. 6 to set up his tremendous finish.

“I got a great break [there]. I hit it left, and it stayed left of the cart path but right of the hazard. As a lefty, I got to drop it on the right side of the hazard, and the rough was matted down. I was basically out of the fairway, and I hit it to about 10 feet and made it for the birdie. It could have easily been a bogey, but I turned it into a birdie, and then, the putter got hot,” said the Fresno State University alum.

Ryan hit a 7-iron within 15 feet and made the eagle putt at the par-5 No. 7 and then hit it within three feet to make birdie on the eighth. He went to call his tee shot at the par-5 No. 9 “ridiculous,” with the ball running down long. “I have this really low, flat driver that I like to hit and out here. It seems to be going as far as my regular one because the tees are elevated. I don’t know how many yards [it ran along the ninth fairway], but I only had 157 yards to the pin, and on a par-5 that’s awesome,” he added about an easy two-putt birdie to finish his day.

Did you know Matt Ryan is one of only two players with two PGA TOUR Latinoamérica wins across the last 24 Tour events? With victories at the 2022 Estrella del Mar Open in Mazatlán, Mexico, and the 2022 Scotia Wealth Management Chile Open, he joins Chile’s Cristóbal Del Solar (2022 Volvo Golf Championship and Neuquén Argentina Classic) as the only players who have won twice since the 2021 Mexico Open. Twenty different players have won the remaining events in that span.

Key Information

With only three full-field events left to play before the season-ending Bupa Tour Championship, the finish line is moving closer. Earning Totalplay Cup points is critical for players all across the standings in order to get the different performance rewards available.

Current clubhouse leader Matt Ryan (one eagle, eight birdies and one bogey) and his grouping partners Chris Nido (seven birdies and one bogey) and Agustín Errázuriz (one eagle and three birdies) combined to shoot 20-under Thursday at Ruitoque—accounting for two eagles, 18 birdies and three bogeys.

Ranked 92nd in the Totalplay Cup standings, having made only four cuts in eight starts, Andrés Gallegos, a 27-year old from Lobos, Argentina, is in desperate need of a good finish to turn his season around. Gallegos is a past PGA TOUR Latinoamérica winner, with his lone title coming at the 2018 Puerto Plata Open in the Dominican Republic.

After missing five straight cuts to open the season, Brent Ito has now shot 39-under in his last 13 rounds. Coming off a tie for eighth at the JHSF Brazil Open, a tie for 21st at the Diners Club Peru Open and a tie for third at the Kia Open in Ecuador, he carded a 6-under 64 Thursday to hold a piece of the third spot. “I’m hitting it really great right now, so I can’t complain,” said the 24-year old from Davenport, Florida, who entered the week ranked 23rd in the Totalplay Cup standings.

The leading Colombian player in the clubhouse is Ricardo Celia of Barranquilla, who carded a 5-under 65 to join those currently tied for eighth. Celia had a strong birdie-eagle finish in a round he was paired with LPGA member Mariajo Uribe, whom he called an “example for all of us who play professional golf in Colombia.” As only the third woman to make a PGA TOUR Latinoamérica start, Uribe struggled to a 3-over 73 and is currently tied for 125th.

Starting off No. 10, Mariajo Uribe had a bogey on 13 and a double bogey on 16. She managed to get things going with her two birdies of the day, on Nos. 18 and 4, but gave those shots back with bogeys on Nos. 5 and 8. “A tough first round, but I know I can go out [Friday] and shoot a low round. This is my home course, so if I can enjoy a good second round and maybe give it a good run I might be able to play on Saturday,” said the 33-year old, a two-time Olympian in her 14th LPGA season.

First-Round Weather: Cloudy. High of 79. Wind NE 4-15 mph. Foggy conditions forced the suspension of play twice. With the round starting at 6:15 a.m., officials suspended play at 6:45 a.m., and resumed at 8 a.m. Play halted again at 11 a.m. and resumed at 1 p.m., for delays totaling three hours, 15 minutes. Officials rescheduled afternoon tee times to start at 2:10 p.m. Officials halted play for the day at 6 p.m.