IRISHMAN GRANT SHARES LEAD ON NGA TOUR

Gainesville, Georgia – Irishman Stephen Grant has faced plenty of tough competition in his career, but most of it was in the form of hacking defenders during his time as a striker for the Liverpool FC. But on Thursday, the soccer-player-turned golfer proved he was anything but a one-dimensional athlete.
Grant, who now resides in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, posted four birdies and one bogey in the opening round of the NGA Tour's $200,000 Milton Martin Honda Classic at Chattahoochee Golf Course and held a share of the lead with Chris Wolfe and Will McCurdy in the clubhouse at 3-under par when play was suspended due to darkness.

Wolfe of Warner Robins posted five birdies, four bogeys and one eagle in the opening round, while McCurdy, a former Auburn University standout from Auburn, Ala., carded five birdies and two bogeys in the opening round to join Grant atop the leaderboard.
Super rookie Trent Whitekiller kept up his solid play in the first round, finishing the day tied for fourth. 
Whitekiller, a former Oklahoma State standout from Sallisaw, Okla., carded a 2-under 70 to join NGA TOUR veterans Chas Narramore (Kingston, Tenn.) and Daniel McCarthy (Syracuse, New York State) in a tie for fourth.
Seth Fair, Will Mitchell and Kent Bulle were the only other golfers to finish the first round under par on Thursday. 
Fair, a University of Indianapolis All-American from Fishers, Ind., carded three birdies and two bogeys, while Bulle, a former Middle Tennessee State standout from Glasgow, Kentucky, and Canadian Mitchell did the same, finishing with 1-under 71s.
Patton Kizzire (St. Simons Island), Andrew Medley (Athens, Ala.) and Jonathan Bartlett (Vero Beach, Fla.) were tied for 10^th at even par when play was halted at 7:48 p.m.
Chris Naegel, Renaud Langevin, Gregory Huxman, Justin Regier and Jack Newman finished the day 1-over par and tied for 13^th.
For full-field scores, click here. 
The first round of the Milton Martin Honda Classic will resume at 7:45 a.m. (local time) and the second round will begin at 8 a.m. As usual, admission is free to the public.