Buick Invitational: First-Round Notebook

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LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Troy Matteson shot a first-round 66 on the more difficult South Course on Thursday to lead the Buick Invitational after the first round. It is Matteson's lowest career score at score in nine career rounds at Torrey Pines. His previous best was last year's third-round 67, which put him tied for fourth through three rounds. Matteson played in the second-to-last group in 2007 playing with Tiger Woods and Charles Howell III, who finished first and second, respectively. Matteson shot a disappointing final-round 76 to finish tied for 23rd.

Leader Troy Matteson is one of nine former NCAA champions in the field this week. (How/WireImage)

Inside the Numbers

Ex-NCAA Champs on Thursday

Player Year(s) Score Phil Mickelson 1989-90, 1992 70 (NC) Todd Demsey 1993 70 (SC) Justin Leonard 1994 76 (SC) Tiger Woods 1996 67 (SC) Charles Warren 1997 74 (NC) Charles Howell III 2000 68 (NC) Troy Matteson 2002 65 (SC) Ryan Moore 2004 78 (SC) Jamie Lovemark 2007 73 (SC)

• Matteson is the first player since 2000 to hold the first-round lead while playing on the South Course at Torrey Pines. Davis Love III led that year by one stroke over Phil Mickelson with a 65 on the first day. Before that, Ben Crenshaw shot an opening-round 65 on the South Course to lead by one stroke over Andy Bean in 1991.

• Matteson's career low first round was a 67 at last year's BMW Championship. The 27-year-old Georgia Tech graduate tied for eighth earlier this year at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

• Playing in his 10th career PGA TOUR event, Brad Adamonis matched his PGA TOUR career-best round from the opening round of this year's Sony Open in Hawaii by shooting a 6-under-par 66 and is alone in second. Before the start of the season, the 2008 PGA TOUR rookie had made one cut on the PGA TOUR, finishing tied for 76th at the 2004 Barclays Classic. In his first full season on the PGA TOUR in 2008, the 35-year-old from Rhode Island has made the first two cuts of his season with a tie for 32nd at the Sony Open in Hawaii and a tie for 50th finish at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

• Adamonis, who now lives in Hallandale, Fla., finished tied for ninth at the 2007 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament after finishing 33rd on the 2007 Nationwide Tour money list. Part of his 2007 Nationwide Tour season included outlasting Tjaart van der Walt, Vance Veazey and Ron Whittaker to win an eight-hole playoff at the WNB Golf Classic in Midland, Tex.

• Three-time defending champion Tiger Woods shot a 5 under par on the South Course in his first start of the season and riding a two-tournament winning streak, having won the BMW Championship and TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola at the end of 2007.

• Despite being a five-time winner at the Buick Invitational and having never finished outside the top 10 in his 10 career starts at this event, Woods has never held or shared the first-round lead. His second-round 77 on the South Course in 2002 remains as the only above-par round he has registered in 40 career tournament rounds (includes Thursday). In Woods' five Buick Invitational victories, his opening scores have been 68 (1999), 70 (2003), 69 (2005), 71 (2006) and 66 (2007).

• Rory Sabbatini shot a first-round 67 on the North Course. This is Sabbatini's best start at the Buick Invitational, his best finish (tied for fifth) coming in 2002.

• Sabbatini, and his wife, Amy, donated $170,000 to the United Through Reading Military program at a ceremony for sailors at the Navy assault ship Boxer on Wednesday. The program is a nonprofit that allows deployed soldiers who are onboard Navy ships overseas to read books aloud to their children through DVDs.

• Woods has an impressive record in season openers, finishing in the Top 10 in all of his initial forays of a season as a professional except for his career debut back in 1996. He's made his initial start of the season at the Buick Invitational the past two years, winning both times and has won this tournament for the past three years and five times overall.

• Of the top 12 players on the leaderboard, 10 played the North Course Thursday. 9 of the 10 highest scores came on the South Course.

• Brett Quigley, Matthew Goggin (illness) and Charlie Wi (illness) withdrew prior to the start of the first round on Thursday morning. Quigley was replaced by Kenneth Ferrie, Goggin by Kevin Streelman, while Brad Elder made the field for Charlie Wi. Mike Weir withdrew during the first round while suffering from the flu.