Three share lead as darkness falls on Nationwide Chattanooga Classic

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- David McKenzie, Todd Demsey and Geoffrey Sisk held the clubhouse leaders at 8 under par Thursday as the first round of the Chattanooga Classic was suspended due to darkness with eight players still on the course. Tyrone van Aswegen is one shot back at 7 under and six players are tied for fifth at 6 under.

McKenzie, the 42-year-old Australian, was the leader in the clubhouse from the afternoon wave. Two groups behind, Demsey was at 9 under before three-putting his final hole to fall back into a tie with McKenzie.

All three leaders are looking to turn their seasons around with a strong finish in the final events of 2009. McKenzie and Demsey are both coming off three consecutive missed cuts and Sisk has missed two of three and had a tie for 50th in the other.

McKenzie is the highest on the money list at 46th, and Sisk and Demsey are 66th and 88th, respectively. The top 60 on the money list after next week's Miccosukee Championship earn a spot in the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island. The 25 leading money winners at the conclusion of the year earn PGA Tour cards for 2010.

"I hit a couple of good ones out there," said Sisk. "My year hasn't gone as well as I would have liked, so I'm pretty happy to start off with a 64." The 44-year-old from Marshfield, Mass., is playing his fifth full season on the Nationwide Tour since 1991.

The golf course received nearly three inches of rain earlier in the week, and preferred lies were in place for the first round for areas of the course mowed to fairway height or less.

"When you're playing lift, clean and place you always get a perfect lie in the fairway," Sisk commented. "You don't get a lot of roll out there when the course is soft like this. That can hurt me since I'm not one of the longer hitters out here."

South African van Aswegen open qualified last week at the Soboba Classic and finished tied for third. A top-25 finish earns players not otherwise exempt a position in the following week's event.

The first round resumes and the second commences on Friday at 8 a.m. The field will be cut to the low 60 players and ties after the second round.

Notebook: This is the 10th event and 24th round of the 2009 season that has been played with preferred lies. ... The hardest hole on the golf course is the 485-yard par-4 13th. It is followed by the easiest, the 526-yard par-5 14th. ... Adam Mitchell, the 22-year-old Chattanooga native and member of this year's victorious Walker Cup team, shot even par and is currently tied for 74th. ... Garrett Osborn withdrew after the first round.

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