Justin Lower, Hayden Springer lead

Hayden Springer entered the week in Bermuda at No. 125, the ultimate bubble boy. He left the golf course Thursday with a share of the first-round lead.

Springer matched Lower with a 6-under 65 that included an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole. Springer and his wife lost their daughter, Sage, to a rare genetic disorder a year ago Wednesday. Safe to say he had someone watching over him for his opening round Thursday.

“Yeah, it’s nice to get off to a good start,” Springer said. “I mean, that’s where you want to be, you want to play well every day. I mean, I think I need it as much as anybody, so it’s definitely nice to do that and hopefully it will continue all week.”

Earlier this year, Springer shot 59 at the John Deere Classic. His game has been there this season, even if he hasn’t been as consistent as he wants to be

This week, however, past results don’t matter, and he’s off to a brilliant start.

“Just trying to stay patient and not — and really not think too much about it. There’s so much golf left, so it’s easy to kind of get ahead of yourself. That’s really the main thing I kind of learned at John Deere.”