Gary Koch shot a tournament-record 62 to take the lead after the first round of The ACE Group Classic on Friday.
Koch, who finished at 10-under-par, holed out a 50-foot bunker shot for eagle on No. 17 and nearly made a 20-footer for birdie on the final hole.
PHOTO: AP
"I wish this day would never end," Koch said.
Tour rookie Lonnie Nielsen shot 8-under 28 on the back nine to finish one shot back at 63. Hale Irwin, who has won this event twice, and Larry Nelson are three shots back. Two-time champion Gil Morgan is in a group of five players at 6-under.
Koch was among the first-round leaders last week at Key Biscayne after a bogey-free 69, but stumbled with an 80 and 81 to tie for 63rd. After that opening round, he learned mother-in-law was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Koch, who started on the 10th hole on Friday, made the turn at 2-under. He then made birdie on three of his first four holes following the turn.
It was. He followed with a birdie from 3m on No. 14, a 2 1/2-footer on No. 16 and then the bunker shot for eagle on No. 17.
Playing partner Mark McCumber started yelling: "That's in. That's going in. That's in."
"Sure enough, it went in," said Koch, who will work about a dozen golf tournaments as an NBC analyst and also play on the Champions Tour.
Nielsen, playing in one of the final groups, quietly made his move and, like Koch, did it on the back nine after a shaky front side.
He made six birdies and an eagle on the back, making a 1.75m shot on the par-5 13th, as the field took advantage of no wind and soft greens.
"You're just not going to get a better day to play golf than we had today," Nielsen said.
Jack Nicklaus birdied three of his first seven holes and was at 5-under at one point, but bogeyed No. 7, his 16th hole and finished at 4-under, good for a tie for 14th.
The tournament went to split tees due to morning fog that delayed the start of play.
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