SAVANNAH, Georgia – Less than two weeks after earning his first Korn Ferry Tour victory, Carl Yuan sits atop the leaderboard once again, sharing an early lead with PGA TOUR member Mark Hubbard at the Club Car Championship at The Landings Club. Yuan and Hubbard both fired 8-under 63s at The Landings Club’s Deer Creek course, though the first round was not completed due to inclement weather Thursday afternoon.

Play was suspended at 2:45 p.m., resumed at 4:05 p.m., and suspended again due to darkness at 7:47 p.m. Of the 156-player field, 44 players still have at least one hole remaining in their first round.

A native of Dalian, China, Yuan began his day on the back nine and parred the first four holes. Yuan’s only bogey of the day, a five at the par-4 16th, was sandwiched between back-to-back birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 and three consecutive birdies at Nos. 17, 18, and 1. Yuan added two more birdies at the par-5 third and par-4 fifth, followed by the highlight of the day, an eagle at the par-5 sixth.

“I just played solid golf overall,” Yuan said. “Didn't quite have a hot start. It was quite windy to start with on the back nine, some tough holes. I made some good pars to start the round. I just hit good shot by good shot. (On No. 6) I hit a great drive down the middle and had like 240 (yards) in. I tried to just smash a hard 5-iron. Got it pin high to, I would say around 55 feet. I just saw the line, hit a good putt and luckily it went in.”

In his third season on the Korn Ferry Tour, this week marks Yuan’s 61st career start. Through six events this season, Yuan already has three top-three finishes, highlighted by a win two weeks ago at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS, where he defeated Peter Uihlein with a birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. In his other three starts this season, Yuan missed the cut.

“I don't know if anybody gets more confidence from a missed cut than me this season,” Yuan joked. “I definitely played better golf today, but I still have three more rounds to go and it's competitive here.”

Yuan entered this week at No. 1 on the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Points List with 853 points. If Yuan were to finish solo 19th or higher this week, he would become the first player to cross the 900-point threshold the Korn Ferry Tour is currently using as its failsafe threshold for players to finish among The 25 and earn a PGA TOUR card at season’s end.

Hubbard, playing out of the “Nos. 126-150 in 2020-21 FedExCup Standings” category on the PGA

TOUR this season, carded one of two completed bogey-free rounds Thursday. Hubbard’s scorecard featured a field-leading eight birdies, with five on the front nine (Nos. 2, 4, 5, 6, and 9) and three on the back (Nos. 14, 16, and 17).

“I can't remember the last time I felt that confident over a golf ball,” Hubbard said. “Just felt really effortless. I feel bad saying this but it could've been a lot lower. I had a vicious lip-out on No. 10 and then probably four other putts that burned edges. It could've been special and crazy.”

Hubbard has nine starts on the PGA TOUR this season, while this week marks his third Korn Ferry Tour start of the year. The previous two were incredibly successful, with Hubbard posting a T6 at the LECOM Suncoast Classic and a T5 two weeks ago at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS, where he also shared the 18-hole lead.

“I've worked really hard on my swing the last eight months and it's just starting to pay off,” Hubbard said. “Anybody who's played at a high level, or really done anything at a high level knows that there's kind of a happy medium of working really hard and trying, but also that perfect amount of not caring. Out here, I kind of have that. I've had some good finishes on the PGA (TOUR) this year, but I do have to figure out how to bring that same laissez faire attitude like most rounds out here.”

The first round will resume at 7:20 a.m. Friday, while and second-round tee times are delayed 15 minutes and are expected to begin at 7:35 a.m. off the first and 10th tees.