They broke the opening round scoring mark by two strokes, which was set by Dawson Ovard two years ago, and they were both one shot off Akshay Bhatia’s all-time championship score of 61, also set in 2017.
In addition, they now share the Keney Park Golf Course record with Megha Ganne, who shot a 62 in the Girls Junior PGA Championship three weeks ago; Adam Rinaud, PGA, from the 2018 Connecticut PGA Championship; and Clark Robinson, shot during a Connecticut Open qualifier.
Earlier, he had a 20-foot birdie on Hole No. 4 that broke twice and dropped in the cup. Then, on the par-3, 151-yard No. 6, he hit a high flair wide, but quickly recovered for a key birdie.
“I hit the best lob shot in my career, and I made it in,” said Claycomb, a University of Alabama commit, who plans to enroll next January.
Magcalayo, who started on the back nine, had a chance to tie Bhatia’s record on his final hole (No. 9). His 8-foot putt halted a foot short. He tapped in for a closing par.
“When I am playing my game, every shot should be good,” said Magcalayo, who won last week’s AJGA Junior at Chicopee in Massachusetts.
He also came within a whisker of a hole-in-one on No. 6 that was a foot from the pin. The birdie would have plenty of company, as he also had four consecutive birdies on Nos. 12-16; three-in-a-row on Nos. 1-3; and another on No. 5. The only blemish on his scorecard was a bogey on No. 4.
“This course is not a joke,” stressed Magcalayo, who is being recruited by several schools across the country.
After just one hole played in the 44th Boys Junior PGA Championship, at the 6,446-yard, par-70 Keney Park Golf Course, there was little doubt that the scores would be low Tuesday, despite a blistering 100-degree heat index.
In the championship's first group off the tee was Andy Mao, 18, of Johns Creek, Ga., who recorded a fancy 20-yard chip in from the fringe for eagle on the Par-4, 330-yard opening stanza. Mao would add another eagle on No. 12 and five birdies. He would still have a couple of speed bumps along the way, with a double bogey on No. 4 and a bogey on No. 8. However, his scorching 29 on the back nine would match the weather.
All told, Mao, who will attend Georgia Tech in the Fall, shot a 6-under par 64, in a tie for third with Peyton Snoeberger, of Lafayette, Ind.
Six players are tied for fifth, firing a 5-under par 65, three shots off the lead, including: USC commit Jackson Rivera, 16, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.; Tyler Goecke, 18, of Xenia, Ohio; Pierce Johnson, 16, of Dallas; Isaiah Kanno, 18, of Hilo, Hawaii; Jack Heath, 17, of Charlotte; and University of North Carolina commit Peter Fountain, 18, of Raleigh.