Boeing Championship: First-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff DESTIN, Fla. -- Eduardo Romero's 9-under-par 62 Friday at the Boeing Championship at Sandestin was his career-low round on the Champions Tour and tied the course record at The Raven set on Friday last year by Bobby Wadkins and equaled earlier in the day by Tom Purtzer.  Eduardo Romero carded nine birdies and nine pars Friday. (Steve Grayson/WireImage)
• Romero's previous-best score on the circuit came last year at the Senior British Open at Turnberry, when he carded a 63 on Friday. Romero's previous-best round in 2007 was a 65 on Friday at the Toshiba Classic. Purtzer's round Friday was his best since an opening-round 60 at the 2004 Toshiba Senior Classic. • The 62s by Purtzer and Romero Friday also tied the low 18-hole on the Champions Tour this year. Hale Irwin shot 10-under 62 in the second-round of the season-opening MasterCard Championship at Hualalai. • Last year, 226 birdies were made in the opening round with no eagles. This year in the opening round, The Raven Golf Club yielded 352 birdies and John Harris had the lone eagle at No. 17. • For the second consecutive week, Romero is the first-round leader/co-leader. Last week at the Senior PGA Championship, he opened with a 4-under 68. Thus far on the 2007 Champions Tour, four first-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win out of the 12 official events played. • Keith Fergus was the last first-round leader/co-leader to win (Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach) on the Champions Tour. In tournament history, four of the 12 first-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win, including Bobby Wadkins last year. • In the previous 12 years, only one Boeing Championship at Sandestin winner (Isao Aoki/1997/1-over 71) has posted a first-round score out of the 60s. There were 41 rounds in the 60s Friday, compared to 12 on Friday last year. • Loren Roberts' 6-under 65 Friday gives him 21 consecutive tournaments on the Champions Tour that he's started with a round of par or better. Roberts ranks first on the Champions Tour in Round 1 Scoring Average (68.64) and also leads the circuit in overall Scoring Average (69.12). Earlier this year, Roberts strung together a Champions Tour-record 37 straight scores of par or better. It was a run that dated back to last season. • Jim Thorpe's 7-under 64 Friday was his best start numerically in a Champions Tour event since he posted a 63 at The Moors in the opening round of this event in 2005. Thorpe went on to win this tournament on Monday morning that year, defeating Morris Hatalsky in a playoff. • In just his second appearance on the Champions Tour this year, New Zealand's Bob Charles bettered his age with a 1-under-par 70. It marked the fifth time in his career that the 71-year-old Charles had bettered his age. He first bettered his age at the 2001 Enterprise Rent-A-Car Match Play Championship when, at age 65, he shot a 64 in Round 2. Charles became the fifth different player on the 2007 Champions Tour to better his age. • Leonard Thompson withdrew before the start of the round with a shoulder injury and was replaced in the field by Danny Edwards, who posted an even-par 71. ... R.W. Eaks retired on the 11th hole with a back injury. Eaks was 1 under for the tournament at the time of the withdrawal. ... J.C. Snead withdrew while playing the 18th hole with a pulled muscle in his rib cage. • Four players teed it up Friday at this event for the 13th consecutive year -- Dave Eichelberger (69), Jim Dent (70), Bruce Summerhays (68) and Tom Wargo (65). Wargo's round was his first on the Champions Tour in more than two months (prostate cancer surgery) and proved to be his best score on the circuit since a final-round 65 at the 2005 Blue Angels Classic at The Moors. • Mitch Adams had just 22 putts Friday and Denis Watson, last week's winner at the Senior PGA Championship, had just 24 putts, including 12 one-putt greens. In his opening-round last week at the Senior PGA Championship, Watson one-putted 13 greens. • Both David Edwards and Scott Simpson hit all 13 fairways off the tee Friday. ... Tom Purtzer hit all 18 Greens In Regulation. • Defending champion Bobby Wadkins carded a 2-under 69, seven strokes higher than his opening round at The Raven Golf Club last year. • Friday's announced attendance was 14,011, the largest Friday crowd in the history of the event. Saturday's second round starts at 8:00 a.m. with the final group teeing off at 12:35 p.m. CT. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
PGATOUR.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network