Thanks to overnight rains in Johnstown, Pa., start times for the first round were delayed by two hours on Wednesday. Conditions were not easy and changed from wind and rain to sun and back throughout the day. Add the weather to thick rough and slick greens, and top players struggled. Theegala and co-leader Alex Smalley were among just eight players to post a round under par on Wednesday.
Smalley, of Wake Forest, N.C., climbed into a share of the lead with a birdie on the par-4 closing hole. Most recently, Smalley helped his Duke team to a quarterfinal run at the NCAA Championship. Last summer, Smalley won stroke-play qualifying at the U.S. Amateur.
Smalley led the field in par-4 scoring, playing those holes in 5 under. It was two shots better than any other player.
Behind Theegala and Smalley, California natives Seb Crampton and Justin Suh are tied for third at 3-under 67. Suh made the turn with a bogey at No. 10, then ran off three birdies in a row. He ended with a bogey that knocked him to 3 under, one shot off the lead. Crampton also bogeyed the 18th to drop out of the lead.
Brandon Mancheno, runner-up at the NCAA Championship, also went without birdies. He posted a 4-over 74 that left him tied for 61st with a group of players that included Brad Dalke, the 2016 U.S. Amateur runner-up who led Oklahoma to a national championship a year ago, and Austin Eckroat, a member of the Oklahoma State team that won the national championship last month.
Nathan Smith, a three-time Walker Cupper and Pittsburgh native, managed to do one better and was tied for 44th. Smith, who has won five USGA championships and won the Sunnehanna in 2011, is lending his voice to tournament committee for the first time this year.