Hudson Swafford admits it — he glanced at the leaderboard every so often during Thursday’s first round of the Stadion Classic at UGA.

“Sometimes I don’t have anything else to do,” he said.

Swafford, who finished the day tied for fifth with a 5-under 66, was checking up on former Georgia teammate Russell Henley and also comparing his own score to those at the top of the list.

But he didn’t let the numbers consume him.

“You’ve got to go out and play your own game,” he said. “If you get caught up in the leaderboard on the first day, you’re going to be behind the eight ball.”

Swafford led all players with University of Georgia ties in the field, but laughed when asked if there was a gentlemen’s bet amongst the nine men.

“Sometimes we get a game in there, but not this time,” he said.

Starting on the back nine in the afternoon, Swafford, a native of Lakeland, Fla., parred the first three holes.

“I was like, well just stay patient,” he said of his mindset.

He then birdied the next three holes and strung together a run of nine consecutive pars.

“Just gave myself chances all day really,” he said.

Two more birdies on 7 and 8 satisfied Swafford as he finished off the round strong.

“It can always be better, but no, I was happy with that start,” he said. “I missed a couple putts, but I got away with a couple things, so it kind of all evens out. I can’t be disappointed with anything I did today.”

Fully in his comfort zone, Swafford played the round in front of friends and family — a contingent of people that now expect to see a strong showing deep into the weekend. Ty Frix, Georgia’s senior longsnapper on the football team, was among the group and was impressed with his friend’s performance.

“He killed it,” Frix said. “If he can keep that up, he’ll win this.”