Brandon Hagy hits from the 17th tee during the first round of The American Express golf tournament on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in La Quinta, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Brandon Hagy didn’t find out he was in the field at The American Express until three days before it started. The Californian then left no doubt he belonged.

Hagy took the first-round lead Thursday with an 8-under 64 on the Nicklaus course, staying one shot ahead of South Korea’s Byeong Hun An in the opening tournament of the PGA Tour’s West Coast swing.

Hagy racked up 10 birdies, including three streaks of three in a row. He capped the round with a calm birdie putt on the 18th.

“I felt like I saw the greens really well, and the last couple of days, I felt like I was putting really well,” Hagy said. “Once I started to read them well, I knew if I could just keep doing what I was doing, I’d have a good shot to do something.”

Hagy grew up in Westlake Village before his All-America collegiate career in Berkeley. After his early years on tour were interrupted by injuries, he’s back to full health — and he has a little extra support at this event from his wife, Jay, and their first child, 5-month-old daughter Hunter.

“There’s nothing better than seeing a smile when you leave to go to the course, and then you get the same smile when you come back,” he said.

Hagy was added to the AmEx field Monday when second-ranked Jon Rahm abruptly dropped out without giving a reason to tour officials. Rahm later said he incurred a minor injury in the gym, but the Spaniard plans to play at Torrey Pines next week.

Hagy might have made it into the field anyway after additional dropouts, but he was still grateful to Rahm, his friend and a collegiate opponent when Rahm played at Arizona State: “I’ll have to send him a bottle of wine or something.”

An made seven birdies without a bogey in his 65. Max Homa, Martin Laird and Si Woo Kim shot 66.

Tournament host Phil Mickelson shot a 74 with swing coach Andrew Getson serving as his caddie. His brother and usual caddie, Tim, is at home with his wife awaiting the birth of their first child.

This famed Palm Springs-area tournament long hosted by Bob Hope has undergone significant changes this season due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the idyllic sunshine was familiar to the players who made the trip to the venerable desert event.

The long-standing pro-am format has been dropped for a year, although the likes of Landon Donovan and country singer Jake Owen participated in a charity tournament Wednesday. With fewer golfers on course, the pros are also playing on only two courses instead of the usual three.

But the tournament kept its tradition of providing every opportunity for low scores: the once-feared Stadium Course and the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West are among the most generous in the sport, with birdie opportunities abounding.

Hagy started with a bogey on the first hole of the Nicklaus course, but then the birdies came in bunches. He birdied six of the seven holes before the turn, and he added three more on the back nine after his second bogey.

The 29-year-old’s game is coming into focus after a rough few years for a promising talent. After turning pro in 2014 and recording his first top-10 finish in 2017, Hagy missed the entire 2018 season with a persistent wrist injury, and he played only 13 events in 2019 while struggling with a back injury.

After making eight cuts last year, Hagy is back at full health after a solid offseason of preparation.

“I’m happy with what I’ve been doing,” Hagy said. “I’m getting to a point now where I know exactly what I need to work on, and to just keep getting the reps.”

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PGA Tour American Express Scores

By The Associated Press

Thursday

At PGA West

La Quinta, Calif.

Purse: $6.7 million

Stadium Course

Yardage: 7,147; Par: 72

Nicklaus Tournament Course

Yardage: 7,181; Par: 72

First Round

Brandon Hagy 31-33_64

Byeong Hun An 33-32_65

Si Woo Kim 33-33_66

Martin Laird 33-33_66

Max Homa 34-32_66

Charl Schwartzel 34-33_67

Sam Ryder 34-33_67

Michael Thompson 33-34_67

Tyler Duncan 33-34_67

Doug Ghim 34-33_67

Maverick McNealy 32-35_67

Alex Noren 33-34_67

Andrew Putnam 34-33_67

Ben Martin 35-32_67

Brian Harman 35-33_68

Aaron Baddeley 31-37_68

James Hahn 34-34_68

Josh Teater 36-32_68

Jamie Lovemark 32-36_68

Adam Long 34-34_68

Austin Cook 35-33_68

Anirban Lahiri 34-34_68

Kevin Streelman 34-34_68

Adam Schenk 32-36_68

Kyoung-Hoon Lee 34-34_68

Kristoffer Ventura 36-32_68

Chris Kirk 35-33_68

Rory Sabbatini 35-33_68

David Hearn 34-34_68

John Huh 35-33_68

Cameron Davis 35-33_68

Mark Hubbard 32-36_68

Patrick Reed 35-33_68

Sungjae Im 34-34_68

Nick Taylor 36-32_68

Brendan Steele 38-30_68

Tony Finau 34-34_68

Cameron Tringale 34-34_68

Abraham Ancer 34-35_69

Camilo Villegas 36-33_69

Emiliano Grillo 35-34_69

Luke List 34-35_69

Jimmy Walker 36-33_69

Francesco Molinari 36-33_69

Troy Merritt 34-35_69

Satoshi Kodaira 35-34_69

Patton Kizzire 36-33_69

Richy Werenski 35-34_69

Patrick Cantlay 35-34_69

Tyler McCumber 34-35_69

Rob Oppenheim 33-36_69

Vincent Whaley 34-35_69

Patrick Rodgers 35-34_69

Grayson Murray 35-34_69

Russell Knox 36-33_69

Lanto Griffin 34-35_69

Joel Dahmen 36-33_69

Hank Lebioda 34-35_69

Roger Sloan 36-33_69

Joohyung Kim 36-33_69

Scottie Scheffler 35-35_70

Ryan Moore 34-36_70

Wyndham Clark 35-35_70

Doc Redman 35-35_70

Danny Lee 34-36_70

Kelly Kraft 36-34_70

Xinjun Zhang 33-37_70

C.T. Pan 35-35_70

Martin Trainer 36-34_70

Pat Perez 33-37_70

J.T. Poston 35-35_70

Brice Garnett 35-35_70

Matt Jones 35-35_70

Erik van Rooyen 34-36_70

Mark Anderson 34-36_70

Kramer Hickok 35-35_70

Rhein Gibson 34-36_70

Fabián Gómez 37-33_70

Tim Wilkinson 36-34_70

Kyle Stanley 35-35_70

Bill Haas 39-31_70

Andrew Landry 35-35_70

Gary Woodland 32-38_70

Scott Piercy 36-34_70

Ryan Armour 36-34_70

Charley Hoffman 37-33_70

J.J. Spaun 33-37_70

Nelson Ledesma 33-37_70

Sebastian Cappelen 35-35_70

Harry Hall 35-35_70

Sean O’Hair 36-35_71

Aaron Wise 37-34_71

Chez Reavie 33-38_71

Michael Gligic 36-35_71

Ben Taylor 35-36_71

Bo Hoag 36-35_71

Lucas Glover 37-34_71

Tom Hoge 34-37_71

Bronson Burgoon 37-34_71

Henrik Norlander 36-35_71

Hudson Swafford 35-36_71

Matthew Wolff 38-33_71

Will Gordon 37-35_72

Zach Johnson 36-36_72

Kevin Stadler 34-38_72

Kevin Tway 37-35_72

Ted Potter, Jr. 37-35_72

Brooks Koepka 36-36_72

Paul Casey 36-36_72

Adam Hadwin 34-38_72

Scott Brown 37-35_72

Chase Seiffert 37-35_72

John Augenstein 36-36_72

Russell Henley 37-35_72

Sepp Straka 35-37_72

Luke Donald 37-35_72

Charles Howell III 36-36_72

Akshay Bhatia 36-36_72

Michael Gellerman 36-36_72

Keegan Bradley 39-34_73

Nate Lashley 36-37_73

Brandt Snedeker 34-39_73

Steve Jones 36-37_73

Scott Harrington 37-36_73

Rickie Fowler 38-35_73

Beau Hossler 35-38_73

Denny McCarthy 36-37_73

Jim Herman 36-37_73

Vaughn Taylor 37-36_73

Cameron Percy 36-37_73

Peter Malnati 36-37_73

Robby Shelton 37-37_74

Brian Gay 37-37_74

Phil Mickelson 37-37_74

Brian Stuard 38-36_74

Nick Watney 37-37_74

Talor Gooch 35-39_74

Jason Dufner 40-34_74

Seung-Yul Noh 38-36_74

Scott Stallings 38-36_74

Rafael Campos 36-38_74

Michael Block 36-38_74

Bo Van Pelt 39-36_75

Steve Stricker 37-38_75

Kevin Na 35-40_75

Hunter Mahan 42-34_76

Cameron Champ 39-38_77

Chris Baker 38-39_77

Sung Kang 38-39_77

Chesson Hadley 39-38_77

Sam Burns 41-36_77

Michael Kim 39-39_78

Matthew NeSmith 37-41_78

Joseph Bramlett 41-38_79

John Senden 40-41_81

Matt Every 42-42_84