Eric Cole and Max Greyserman tied for Biltmore Championship lead

The American duo both went seven under at a rain-softened Cliff at Walnut Grove, enough to be one stroke ahead of a host of players in six under, including Chris Kirk and Peter Malnati.

Cole was four under standing on the ninth tee before a bogey set him back. But he drained four birdies coming home to regain momentum. It was just another day in paradise for Cole, who has averaged in incredible 34 tournaments a year for the last three seasons.

"I just like to play a lot of golf, I enjoy competing," Cole told AP.

"I worked a lot, really hard and a lot of years to get to the PGA Tour, so any chance I have to play and compete out here is something that means a lot to me, something I don't take for granted."

Meanwhile, Greyserman also carded just one bogey before playing the last 12 holes in six under to join Cole at the top. Given this was his first outing at the North Carolina course, he was suitably impressed.

"I guess it's maybe more freeing when you play a course for the first time because you don't have any bad memories to pull up," said Greyserman.

"You just have no memories, so it's nice and fresh. I think that's good."