Regions Charity Classic: Round 1 notebook

text size

HOOVER, Ala. -- Friday marked the first time in his Champions Tour career that Dan Forsman has been a leader/co-leader after the opening round. His 7-under 65 was his best starting round on the Champions Tour this year and his lowest round since he posted a 65 on Sunday at the Toshiba Classic in March.

• For the fourth time in the last four years, the first-round leader/co-leaders at the Regions Charity Classic have shot 65. Last year, Andy Bean was tied with Mike Goodes with a 65 and Bean eventually won the event by one stroke over Goodes.

Greenwood/Getty Images

Bob Tway shot a 4-over 76 in his Champions Tour debut on Friday.

Tway through 18 holes

Stats Rd. 1 Total Rank Eagles -- 0 N/A Birdies 1 1 T70 Pars 12 12 T35 Bogeys 5 5 T4 Double bogeys -- 0 N/A Other -- 0 N/A Driving accuracy 86 85.7 T15 Driving distance 307.0 307.0 9 Putts per round 35 35.0 T74 Putts per GIR 1.923 1.923 T59 Greens in REG 72 72.2 T48 Sand saves 0 0.0 T13

• First-round leaders/co-leaders have won just two of the first eight official events on the Champions Tour this year. In the previous 17 Regions Charity Classics, first-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win the tournament only four times. John Bland shared the opening-round lead with Bruce Summerhays in 1996 and eventually won in a playoff. Hale Irwin shared the first-round lead with Jose Maria-Canizares in 2001 and eventually won. In 2004, Bruce Fleisher became the only wire-to-wire winner in tournament history and last year, Bean was tied with Goodes after play on Friday and eventually defeated him by a stroke. The lowest finish ever by a first-round leader/co-leader was Al Kelley who finished tied for 38th in 1993.

• Since its inception in 1992, no tournament winner has posted a score higher than 70 in the opening round and 13 of the 17 winners have had first-round scores in the 60s. Seven winners have put together three consecutive rounds in the 60s, including four of the last six champions (Brad Bryant opened with 70 in 2007; Bean closed with 70 last year).

• Hal Sutton continued his good play in his first appearance at the Regions Charity Classic. After finishing tied for third in his last start last month at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am near Tampa, Sutton opened with a 6-under 66 today, his third consecutive round in the 60s. Sutton's score was his first career opening round in the 60s on the Champions Tour.

• Larry Mize's 6-under 66 today was his career-low round on the Champions Tour. A four-time winner on the PGA TOUR including the 1987 Masters, Mize joined the Champions Tour last fall at the SAS Championship.

• Bob Tway, a winner of eight PGA TOUR titles including the 1986 PGA Championship, made his Champions Tour debut today and opened with a 4-over 76 (tied for 73rd).

• Jim Dent became the only player to have competed in every Regions Charity Classic when he made his 18th consecutive start in the tournament today. The 70-year-old Dent, a winner in Birmingham in 1994, carded a 1-over 73.

• Bob Gilder made his 130th consecutive appearance in events he's been eligible for on the Champions Tour. Gilder shot 2-under 70 today.

• Defending champion Bean opened with a 2-under 70 today and now has run off seven straight sub-par scores at Ross Bridge.

• For the second consecutive year, lift, clean and place rules were in effect for the first round. Today's scoring average for the field was 70.590 compared to 72.462 last year. Friday, there were 52 scores below par compared with just 33 sub-par scores in Round 1 last year.

• The hardest hole in Round 1 was the par-4 17th hole (4.103/+.103). The par-5 sixth hole played as the easiest (4.538/-.462) and yielded two eagles and 37 birdies among the 78 players in the field.

• This and That: Gilder, Mize and John Morse hit all 14 fairways today...Tom Purtzer was the only player to hit every green in regulation today...Fred Funk had just 24 total putts today, the fewest among any player in the field...Sandy Lyle's 328-yard drive at No. 17 was the longest measured drive of the day....Mize, Eduardo Romero, Thorpe, Gil Morgan, Tom McKnight, Chip Beck, Larry Nelson, Jay Sigel, Tom Purtzer and Lonnie Nielsen had bogey-free rounds today.

• Second-round play will start at 9 a.m. (CT) on Saturday with players going off both the No. 1 and No. 10 tees.