AT&T National: First-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff BETHESDA, Md. -- Play in the first round of the AT&T National was suspended at 1:41-1:59 p.m. (18 minutes) on Thursday due to heavy rain. It marked the 14th event that has been suspended due to weather in 2007. • The five-way tie for the lead through 18 holes matches the most players tied for Round One lead on the PGA TOUR in 2007 -- there were also five tied for the lead at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship.  Fred Funk is looking for a breakthrough in his old back yard. (Michael Cohen/WireImage)
• Former University of Maryland golf coach Fred Funk open with a 3-under 67 and is one stroke back of the lead. The 51-year-old played in his first career PGA TOUR event at Congressional Country Club in 1982. He finished T51 and earned $947.20. Twenty-five years later, Funk is playing in his 589th PGA TOUR event this week and has amassed $20,560,842, 11th all-time. Funk's season highlight thus far is a win at the inaugural Mayakoba Golf Classic. • Six of the top 10 in the world are in attendance this week at AT&T National: World No. 1 and host Tiger Woods, No. 2 Phil Mickelson, No. 3 Jim Furyk, No. 4 Adam Scott, No. 6 Vijay Singh and No. 8 Geoff Ogilvy. Furyk and Singh are tied for the lead after Round One. • Stuart Appleby (T1) had success in his last visit to Congressional, as he finished T7 at the 2005 Booz Allen Classic. • The AT&T National marks the 22nd career first-round lead or co-lead for Vijay Singh. He has emerged victorious six previous times. His last first-round lead came was at the 2007 Mercedes-Benz Championship, where he went on to win after sharing a five-way tie for the lead. • First-round co-leader Vijay Singh led the field Thursday in Greens in Regulation, hitting 17-of-18 (94.44 percent). • Craig Kanada (T17) led the field in Fairways in Regulation as he was successful in 13 of 14 attempts (92.9 percent). • The putter came up short for tournament host Tiger Woods as he needed 34 putts to negotiate Congressional Country Club, ranking T109 in that category. The 34 putts included four three-putts on the day. • Jeff Quinney opened with a 3-under 67 and was the first man in the logjam at the top of the leaderboard. The 1999 U.S. Amateur champion got off to a blazing start on the West Coast, posting four consecutive top-10s at one point (Bob Hope Chrysler Classic/Buick Invitational/FBR Open/Nissan Open). He leads all rookies with five top-10s, the other being a T6 in first PLAYERS Championship start. • There were no bogey-free rounds recorded on Thursday, and only two eagles, by Fred Funk (No. 12) and Brett Wetterich (No. 9). • Tiger Woods' only previous start at Congressional Country Club came in 1997, where he finished T19, including a 3-under-par 67 in the second round. • Phil Mickelson did not post a birdie on Thursday -- the second time in three rounds he failed to do so. He did not record a birdie in the first round of the U.S. Open, where he shot an identical 4-over-par 74. • Tiger Woods is looking to add Maryland to the 13 states where he has earned a PGA TOUR victory. California (11) and Florida (10) are Nos. 1-2 for Woods' victories followed by Ohio (8) and Georgia (8). • The inaugural AT&T National marks the 12th PGA TOUR or PGA TOUR Co-Sponsored event at Congressional Country Club. Three majors have been contested at Congressional, most recently the 1997 U.S. Open where Ernie Els edged Tom Lehman. • Matt Gogel holds the Congressional Country Club course record, posting a first-round 63 in the first round of the 2005 Booz Allen Classic before finishing T7. • NCAA Individual Champion Jamie Lovemark opened with a 3-under 67 and is one stroke back of the lead through round one. Lovemark, who recently completed his freshman year at the University of Southern California, earned a spot in the field this week at the AT&T National via a Sponsor Exemption. The first-team All-America was named 2007 NCAA Player of the Year and the winner of the 2007 Jack Nicklaus Award, awarded to the nation's top collegiate golfer. This is his fourth career professional event. Earlier this year, he finished in a tie for 39th at the Buick Invitational (Monday Qualifier), and he recently finished second in a playoff to Chris Riley at the Nationwide Tour's Rochester Area Charities Showdown. Last year, he finished T54 at the Cialis Western Open where he earned an exemption as the winner of the Western Amateur. |
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