Kevin Sutherland and Charles Warren both shot six-under 65 on Thursday and are tied for the lead after the first round of the US$6 million PGA FBR Open.
"You know, obviously you want to get off to a good start, and this is the kind of golf course where the scores are going to be low," Warren said.
A 40-minute frost delay pushed the start of play back and the round was eventually suspended owing to darkness.
Both first and second-round play at the event was to begin early yesterday morning.
Sutherland had a bogey-free round.
"I just kept making some putts for par and then all of a sudden it clicked again and I started hitting the ball good again," Sutherland said. "Who knows why that happens, but it just -- I putted -- one thing I did do well all day is I putted well."
Rich Beem, Brian Gay and Camilo Villegas are tied for third, one shot adrift of the leaders at five-under 66. Nick O'Hern is also at five-under with four holes left in the first round.
A group of seven golfers, including Kenny Perry and Charles Howell, are at four-under and another 21 players are another shot back.
Phil Mickelson is in that group at three-under along with South Korea's K.J. Choi, Woody Austin and Rory Sabbatini.
A two-time winner here, Mickelson had a pair of bogeys on his first seven holes before catching fire with three birdies and an eagle. He is through 14 holes.
Mickelson said the cold weather didn't affect him.
"You know, it was cold, but it shouldn't have made a difference in the scoring like the way I played," Mickelson said. "It wasn't that bad. I just hit a couple of poor shots. But fortunately got it turned around."
RSS