Three players share lead after Day 1 in Athens

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Rich Barcelo had a 66 in his first round after two weeks off recovering from an injured elbow.

ATHENS, Ga. -- After a wet and windy start to the week, clear skies returned to the Classic City for Thursday's first round of the Athens Regional Foundation Classic.

Sponsor exemption and former University of Georgia standout Kevin Kisner is tied atop the leaderboard with veterans Rich Barcelo and Patrick Sheehan. Each of the leaders carded six birdies and no bogeys in their rounds for a score of 66.

Kisner graduated in 2006 and has primarily played the mini-tour circuit since. Coincidentally, he played his first event as a professional on the Nationwide Tour via the Monday qualifier at the 2006 Chattanooga Classic. Despite shooting 6 under in two rounds, he missed the cut and is eager for another chance.

"This is like a major for me," he remarked. "One good week out here can change your life."

If he is to have a career-changing week, he clearly has his work cut out for him. In addition to co-leaders Sheehan and Barcelo, David Branshaw is one stroke back at 5 under and nine players are tied for fifth at 4 under.

Sheehan is a Nationwide Tour graduate with five full seasons on the PGA TOUR since 2003. He finished 128th on last year's PGA TOUR money list and plans to spend time playing on both tours in 2009.

Barcelo is returning from two weeks off the golf course recovering from an injured elbow. He had practiced only two days prior to arriving at the tournament. Barcelo has made three cuts in five events so far this year and is currently 41st on the money list.

"I'm just glad to be playing this week," he said. "I had to withdraw from my last event and the pain was excruciating -- I couldn't even shake somebody's hand."

Despite heavy rainfall early in the week, many players commented on the excellent condition of the golf course. "Perfect" was the word most often used by players to describe the greens as they came off the course.

Due the wet conditions, tournament officials implemented a local rule that allowed players to lift, clean and replace their ball in closely mown areas through the green (areas cut to fairway height or less). Players were grouped in threesomes starting on the first and 10nth tees, with tee times from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Play concluded at approximately 8:00 p.m. ET.

First-Round Notes: After putting in a full day of practice at the course Wednesday, Brennan Webb made the 80-plus mile drive back to the Atlanta airport to catch a flight to Tampa, Fla. Currently a Canadian citizen, Webb had a 7 a.m. interview Thursday with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services as part of his permanent residence application that could not be rescheduled. Remarkably, he was able to rush back to the airport, catch a flight to Atlanta and return to the golf course shortly before noon -- none too soon for his 1 p.m tee time. He went on to shoot a 1-under 71 and is currently tied for 31st.

There were nine birdies on the scorecard of Garth Mulroy in Round 1, the second-most ever posted in a single round in this event (Ken Duke made 10 birdies in the first round of 2006). Unfortunately, Mulroy also went triple-double on holes six and seven for a score of 2-under 70.

Brendon Todd made a hole-in-one with a 7-iron on the par-3 17th hole from 157 yards. Todd said after the round it was the fifth ace in his life but the first in a competitive event.

Wil Collins withdrew prior to the start of his round and Craig Bowden replaced him in the field. ... Tripp Isenhour was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. ... Doug Barron was disqualified under Rule 3-2, Failure to Hole Out. After losing numerous balls in the water on the 18th hole, he had none left to continue play.

It was a mostly sunny day Thursday with high temperatures into the upper 60s and winds out of the east-northeast at 6-12 mph. Dry conditions should continue through Saturday before another round of showers and thunderstorms moves into the area on Sunday.