DECATUR, Ala, (WHNT) — The Daikin Spirit of America golf tournament is officially underway and a North Alabama native sits at the top of the leaderboard after round one.
Hartselle native Ryley Heath finished five under par with a 66 for his first round.
News 19 caught up with Heath after his round on Wednesday and the former Hartselle Tiger told us how special it is for him to be able to come and compete on his home course.
“It’s awesome. Whether this is the biggest tournament in the world or the smallest tournament in the world, this is the most important one to me because this is something I grew up watching and I think this tournament is probably what I owe a lot of credit to for my love for the game so this is always a very special week for me,” Heath said. “There’s a lot of really good players and I know that. I know somebody in this afternoon wave is probably going to shoot something similar to me and in years past I feel like I’ve been in this position before and I got caught up in trying to match their game and I think it’s just going to be important to me to stay true to how I play golf and that’s what I’m going to try to do.”
The tournament continues with round two on Thursday and the championship round will be held on Saturday, June 29. Stay with News 19 all week as we continue to bring you coverage from Burningtree Country Club.
