First-round notebook – Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial
* Steve Stricker, Woody Austin and Tim Clark seized the first-round lead at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial with 7-under 63s. The opening-round Tournament record was set by Patrick Sheehan (62) in 2005.* This marks the third consecutive year that 63 has led here after the first round (2007 – Anthony Kim, Kevin Na; 2008 – Johnson Wagner). In addition, this is the seventh straight year a round of 64 or better has led after day one.
* Stricker’s 63 is his career-low opening-round score (64 – 1998 FBR Open, 2005 Chrysler Classic of Tucson) and third-lowest of the year. He posted 61-62 during the third and fourth rounds of the 50th Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (T3). He currently sits No. 10 on the FedExCup points list, with five top-10 finishes in 11 starts.
* Stricker has held the 18-hole lead one time previously on Tour, finishing T4 at the 1993 Canadian Open. He is making his seventh start at the Colonial, with a T13 in 2005 his best outing out of four made cuts.
* Woody Austin is making his ninth start at Colonial, with his career-best finish coming in his inaugural appearance in 1995 (4th). He also has top-20 finishes here in 1996 (T16) and 2006 (T17). Thursday’s 63 is his best score since closing with a career-low 62 in winning the 2007 St. Jude Classic.
* Austin has held the lead/co-lead after the first round on four previous occasions, carrying that lead on to victory at the 1995 Buick Open. His other first-round leads led to a T4 finish at the 2000 Buick Open, T11 at the 1999 Children’s Miracle Network Classic and T23 at the 1996 U.S. Open. The 63 posted on Thursday equals his career-low opening-round score (9-under 63 – 1995 & 2000 Buick Open; 7-under 63 – 2005 Valero Texas Open).
* Tim Clark is teeing it up for the sixth time at Colonial. After missing the cut in his first start in 2003, he has accumulated four straight top-25 finishes (T14-2004, T21-2005, T12-2007, T2-2008). He also recorded a 63 earlier this year during the third round of the 50th Bob Hope Classic en route to a season-best T5 finish.
* Clark holds at least a share of the first-round lead/co-lead for third time in his career. The other leads led to a T7 at THE Tour Championship in 2007 and T26 at the 2001 Touchstone Energy Tucson Open. The 63 is the second-lowest opening-round score of his career (62, 2007 THE Tour Championship).
* The first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win just five of 21 stroke-play events on Tour this year, most recently Phil Mickelson at the WGC-CA Championship. Last year, nine of 46 first-round leaders/co-leaders won.
* In the previous 61 playings of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, the first-round leader has gone on to claim victory only 14 times. The last first-round leader to go on and win the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial was Ian Baker-Finch in 1989.
2003 and 2005 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial champion Kenny Perry opened with a 6-under 64 in his 20thstart at the event. It was his best opening round at the Invitational, but fell one shy of the 63 he recorded during the second round in 2005.
* Four players currently inside the top 10 on the FedExCup points lists are inside the top 10 on the leaderboard, including #4 Sean O’Hair (T6), #5 Kenny Perry (T4), #8 Paul Casey (T8) and #10 Steve Stricker (T1).
* Vijay Singh’s 6-under 64, which included five consecutive birdies on Nos. 16-2, is his best round since a final-round 63 in winning the 2008 Deutsche Bank Championship. After just two sub-70 scores in his first 28 rounds this season, Singh has rebounded with five sub-70 rounds in his last six attempts.
* Ian Baker-Finch, winner of the 1991 British Open, posted a 2-under 68 in his first competitive round since missing the cut (74-77) at the 2001 Colonial. He is making his 10thstart at Colonial, highlighted by a victory in 1989 and a T7 in 1991.
* Baker-Finch, after beginning his round on the back nine, posted his first birdie of the day (and first since the par-3 eighth hole during the first round of the 2001 Colonial) at the par-3 13th hole – this week’s Kodak Challenge hole. It was quite an improvement over the double bogeys he posted at the picturesque hole in two attempts in 2001.
* Dean Wilson (68) did Baker-Finch one better on the 13th hole, holing a 7-iron from 160 yards for the 24th ace in Tournament history. Of that total, eight have occurred at No. 13, including the Tournament’s most recent prior to 2009 – Dustin Johnson (2008). All three of Wilson’s aces during his career on the PGA Tour have now come in consecutive seasons, with two occurring in the Lone Star State (2007 Arnold Palmer Invitational, 2008 HP Byron Nelson Championship, 2009 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial).
* Paul Casey, the third-ranked player in the Official World Golf Rankings, opened with a 4-under 66. He is attempting to become the first player in Tour history to win the Shell Houston Open and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in the same season.
* Rod Pampling posted a 3-over 73 to begin his quest for five consecutive top-12 finishes at Colonial (2008-T2, 2007-T12, 2006-3, 2005-T6).
* 1985 and 1996 Crowne Plaza Invitational champion Corey Pavin is making his 26thconsecutive start at the event. Thursday’s 1-over 71 marks just the eighth time he has opened the Tournament with an over-par score.
* Rory Sabbatini, winner of last week’s HP Byron Nelson Championship, opened with a 1-over 71. The only player to win the Tour stops in Dallas and Fort Worth in the same year was Ben Hogan in 1946.
* Adam Scott’s 2-under 68 snaps a string of 16 consecutive rounds of 71 and above. His last round in the 60s was a 6-under 64 during the final round of the 2009 Sony Open in Hawaii (T2).
* Ian Poulter opened with a 66. His missed cut last week at Las Colinas was just his second of the season in eight attempts – with six weekend appearances all leading to top-20 finishes, led by a runner-up at THE PLAYERS Championship. He is making just his second start at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (2008-T15).
* Brian Davis (69) enters this week looking to keep several streaks alive. He has finished inside the top five in his last three starts (T5-T5-2), has amassed eight straight rounds in the 60s, 13 consecutive sub-par rounds and 20 straight rounds of par or better. He has jumped all the way to No. 21 in the FedExCup points standings as a result.
* Nine past champions of the Colonial are competing this week, including Rory Sabbatini (2007/71), Tim Herron (2006/71), Kenny Perry (2003, 2005/64), Steve Flesch (2004/71), Corey Pavin (1985, 1996/71), Tom Lehman (1995/68), Fulton Allem (1993/74), Ian Baker-Finch (1989/68) and Keith Clearwater (1987/70).
* Bogey-free rounds were posted by Woody Austin (63), Tim Clark (63), Kenny Perry (64), Jason Day (65), Steve Marino (66), Jim Furyk (68) and Ryan Moore (68).
* The par-4 fifth hole played the toughest on Thursday, yielding a 4.298 average and just 11 birdies. The par-5 18th hole was the easiest with a 4.573 average.
* Daniel Chopra withdrew following his first round with a back injury.
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