Eagle-eyed Séamus Power fires superb 64 in Myrtle Beach Classic first round
As Hughes birdied his last four holes to fire an eight-under 63 for the early lead at Dunes Golf and Beach Club, the West Waterford man (38) followed two birdies in his first four holes with a 162-yard hole-out for eagle at the eighth.
Trialling a new putter this week after placing his misbehaving regular blade 'on alert', he added further birdies at the 11th, 15th and 16th to share second place with Will Chandler in the event opposite the Truist Championship.
'Yeah, great start,' said Power, who is hoping to make his 10th Major appearance in next week's PGA Championship with a third PGA Tour win and a two-year exemption under his belt.
'Did a lot of good things. Hit the ball nicely. Didn't miss too many greens. Got lucky there on No 8 as well for a hole-out. All in all, a lot of good stuff.'
Power was thrilled to hole out with a nine-iron from 162 yards at the eighth and see some putts drop.
'It was a funny one,' he said of his eagle. 'It was right between clubs. With the greens being firm and that pin once you got past it, it's just not going to stop. I just tried to lean on a nine-iron and came out perfectly. It landed right where I wanted it, and obviously, it was very lucky to go in.'
As for his putting, he said: 'I feel like I've been hitting decent putts, but my speed has been a little bit up and down.
'So I got a new one that Ping made. I put it in on the weekend, and it felt really good immediately.'
In the Turkish Airlines Open, Conor Purcell's four-over 75 left him joint 133rd, 10 shots behind Germany's Tiger Christensen, France's Martin Couvra and South Africa's Robin Williams. They shot 65s at Regnum Carya to head Brandon Robinson Thompson and Joost Luiten by a shot.
In the Challenge de Espana, Jonathan Caldwell's five-under 66 left him joint 13th, three shots behind Dane Victor Sidal Svendsen at Fontanals in Girona, where Max Kennedy, Mark Power and Alex Maguire were 76th after 70s.
At Seapoint, defending champion Matt McClean (31) from Malone opened with an eight-under 64 to lead the Flogas Irish Amateur Open by a shot from Concra Wood's Charlie McDonnell.
Meanwhile, Royal Dublin's Hugh Foley (27) shot an eight-under 62 to go into the final round of the Alps Tour's Memorial Giorgio Bordoni in Como tied for second, just three shots behind Spain's Asier Aguirre Izcue.
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