Brandon Matthews walked onto the course Thursday morning in Jackson, Miss. for his first competitive round of golf as a married man.
He walked off the course as a co-leader in a PGA Tour event.
Matthews eventually wound up in a third-place tie at the end of the first round, but the 67 for the best round of his PGA Tour career to date gave him enough of a cushion to survive some Friday struggles and make the cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship.
The tournament, the second of the 2022-23 season, was scheduled to continue Saturday and conclude Sunday.
Matthews earned his spot on the PGA Tour with a 10th-place finish on the Korn Ferry Tour points list earlier this year. His debut as a tour member – he had played earlier individual events on sponsors’ exemptions – resulted in Matthews dropping out midway through the first round when back problems flared up two weeks ago.
It was back to Pennsylvania last weekend for the Pittston Area graduate, who got married in the Philadelphia suburbs Sept. 24. Matthews and his wife, Danielle, met as students at Temple University.
Matthews was over par before going eagle-birdie on his fifth and sixth holes Thursday. Then, he played the last eight holes in 4-under.
After the birdie-birdie finish put Matthews on top of the leaderboard, he shared with reporters that, as he walked off the course, he told Danielle they should have gotten married sooner.
Matthews played the first nine in par Friday, then put himself under pressure with a triple bogey on 17.
Needing a birdie to make the cut, Matthews ripped a 337-yard drive, put his 155-yard approach shot to within eight feet and made the putt to finish at 3-over-par, 75.
The 2-under, 142 total left Matthews tied for 60th going into the weekend.
