Brendan Steele's push for the first round lead in the rain-hit Valero Texas Open was halted by darkness Thursday, leaving Charley Hoffman with the clubhouse lead. On a day that saw inclement weather halt play for about three-and-a-half hours, Hoffman made it safely into the clubhouse with a six-under par-66. Steele, the 2011 winner, had surged past Hoffman to the top of the leaderboard with eight birdies in 13 holes without a bogey before darkness fell. Steele will be one of 72 golfers returning to complete the first round Friday morning before teeing off for the second round. Hoffman had seven birdies and a bogey. He hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation despite finding the fairway on only eight of his drives and needed only 26 putts. Two of Hoffman's birdie putts were from inside five feet, the longest from 22 feet. Steele teed off on 10 on the Oaks course at TPC San Antonio and birdied his first three holes. After another birdie at 14, he strung together four birdies in a row at 18, one, two and three. Stuart Appleby of Australia and Peter Malnati shared third place, both in the clubhouse on five-under 67. Steve Flesch signed for a four-under 68 while Patrick Reed and Freddy Jacobson of Sweden were both four-under on the back nine when play was halted. Two-time winner Zach Johnson, seeking his first victory since last year's Open Championship, was among a group of players at three-under 69. Defending champion Jimmy Walker struggled to a three-over 75. Ryu seizes early lead In San Francisco, Ryu So-yeon took a huge step toward extending her longest active cut streak on the USLPGA Tour by shooting a nine-under 63 for a two-stroke lead at the Swinging Skirts Classic Thursday. South Korea's Ryu hopes to put that streak to good use this week as she shot her lowest round of the season. Her bogey-free performance also set a tournament course record. Indeed, Ryu needed just 27 putts Thursday to take the early lead ahead of Japan's Haru Nomura and Taiwan's Candie Kung. Kung carded her low round of 2016 with a seven-under par 65 on day one. Lin Xi Yu of China and France's Christel Boeljon are tied for fourth at five-under par. Defending champion Lydia Ko is tied for sixth at four-under par with a group that includes Catriona Matthew, Choi Na-Yeon and Rachel Rohanna. Ko battled in the first round, hitting just nine of 14 fairways and 10 of 18 greens. Ichihara surprise leader in Japan Japan's Kodai Ichihara produced a sparkling six-under-par 65 Friday to take a surprise one-stroke lead into the weekend at the Panasonic Open. The 33-year-old carded seven birdies against a lone bogey to finish the second round one clear of India's Shiv Kapur (67) at the $1.25 million event in Chiba, southeast of Tokyo. Fellow Japanese Azuma Yano fired a 69 to finish two off the halfway pace at the tournament co-sanctioned by the Asian and Japanese tours. Overnight leader Ryutaro Nagano slipped back to four-under after a 73. South Korea youngster Wang Jeung-hun sits five strokes adrift to set up a tantalizing weekend's golf. — Agencies
