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| Weather: Sunny. High of 76 and wind from the NE at 5-10 mph.
Golf Course: Par 70 / 7,037 yards Resources: Full Leaderboard | PGA TOUR Media Site
Bryan Lee (Fairfax, Virginia) and Charlie Nikitas (Glenview, Illinois) carded rounds of 6-under 64 Thursday at Cragun’s Legacy Courses, and they share a one-stroke lead after the first round of the CRMC Championship presented by Northern Pacific Center in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Lee’s summer started by qualifying for the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, and he’s coming off back-to-back made cuts at the Osprey Valley Open (T56) and last week’s Manitoba Open (T31). In four seasons at the University of Virginia, Lee helped lead the Cavaliers to two ACC Championship titles and a national runner-up finish in 2025, and he finished No. 17 in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2026 to earn PGA TOUR Americas membership.
Joining Lee atop the leaderboard is Nikitas, who enters the week No. 31 on the points list. The third-year member has three top-10s this season, and his 64 matches his best first-round score in 30 starts on PGA TOUR Americas.
Among the seven players tied for third at 5-under is Justin Biwer (San Diego, California), who made eight straight birdies (Nos. 5-12) – the longest such streak on Tour this season – but also added a triple bogey on No. 13 and a bogey on the par-5 17th.
Also T3 at 5-under is University of Minnesota grad Ben Warian (Stillwater, Minnesota) and sponsor exemption Andrew Israelson (Staples, Minnesota), the 2025 Minnesota Section PGA Assistant Professional Player of the Year.
About PGA TOUR Americas PGA TOUR Americas identifies and prepares the game’s future stars as players compete to earn membership on the Korn Ferry Tour and eventually the PGA TOUR. The 2026 schedule consists of 15 events in nine countries, and the season culminates in October with the Dominican Republic Tour Championship presented by Scotiabank, where the top 10 players on the season-long points list earn Korn Ferry Tour membership the following season.
Since the inaugural PGA TOUR Americas season in 2024, Johnny Keefer (2024) and Michael Brennan (2025) have finished No. 1 on the PGA TOUR Americas points list, and both players earned their PGA TOUR cards for the 2026 season.
Media Contacts
Chris Richards (on-site) Director, Communications – PGA TOUR Pathways
Gregory Villalobos (remote) Media Official – PGA TOUR Pathways |
August 24 – 30, 2026