Sienkiewicz holds lead in weather-suspended first round of CRMC Championship
Published
BRAINERD, Minnesota – The first round of the CRMC Championship presented by Gertens was suspended due to darkness at 8:00 p.m. CT, and the second round will resume at 7:45 a.m. CT. Play was initially suspended at 3:00 p.m. CT due to inclement weather and resumed at 6:30 p.m. CT. Twenty-six groups will finish their opening rounds Friday morning.
Chase Sienkiewicz holds the lead in the first round of the CRMC Championship presented by Gertens with five holes left to play and is 7-under thru 13 holes. Sienkiewicz holds a one stroke lead over course-record holder Taylor Funk and U.S. Open and Masters low-amateur Neal Shipley, who is 6-under with five holes remaining in his first round. Three players are tied for fourth in 5-under 65.
The second-year professional carded three consecutive birdies to close out his opening nine on Thursday and posted a 4-under 31. Upon making the turn, Sienkiewicz birdied hole No. 2, and crucially eagled No. 4, the 580-yard par 5, to take solo possession of the lead. Sienkiewicz will finish the remainder of round one Friday morning with the opportunity to hold the 18-hole lead for the first time in his career.
The 24-year-old has posted two top-10s this season; his first being a tied for third finish at the Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship to conclude the Latin America Swing, and his second coming at the ATB Classic with a tied for sixth showing. Sienkiewicz’s first top-10 of the season in Colombia was the best finish of his career and boosted him to No. 18 in the Fortinet Cup entering the North America Swing. Since the ATB Classic, Sienkiewicz has remained inside the top 25 of the Fortinet Cup, and will look to further improve his standing heading into the season-finale Fortinet Cup Championship, where the top 10 players in the season-long points list earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for the 2025 season.
The California native graduated from the University of Arizona in 2023 and notoriously finished No. 19 in the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking, which granted him exempt membership for the PGA TOUR Canada season. In his rookie season, Sienkiewicz posted two top-10s in his first three starts as a professional. He finished No. 49 in the Fortinet Cup to earn exempt membership through the Latin America Swing of PGA TOUR Americas inaugural season.
The first round will be resumed at 7:45 a.m. CT Friday morning. Second-round tee times are scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. CT and will run until 5:40 p.m. CT off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees.