WM Phoenix Open: Round 1 notebook

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SCOTTSDALE -- Colombia's Camilo Villegas chipped in for birdie at the ninth hole (his last) to tie the tournament's opening-round record of 9-under 62. His scorecard included nine birdies and no bogeys. He shares the opening-round record with Steve Jones (1997, TPC), Harrison Frazar (2003, TPC) and J.C. Snead (1973, Arizona CC). Of those previous three, only Jones went on to win.

• Villegas' 9-under 62 replaces his previous best of 63, which he carded most recently in round one of the 2009 RBC Canadian Open (T24).

• Villegas has competed in each Waste Management Phoenix Open since finishing T2 on a sponsor's invitation in 2006. He missed the cut at TPC Scottsdale last year.

• Villegas is making his second start of the year this week. He finished third at last week's World Golf Championships -- Accenture Match Play Championship.

• This marks the fifth time Villegas has held at least a share of the first-round lead. Of the previous four, only the 2008 BMW Championship resulted in victory.

• Following his breakthrough year of 2008, in which he claimed back-to-back victories en route to a world-ranking of seventh, 2009 didn't live up to his expectations. Although he did manage four top-10 finishes, he dropped to 24th in the world rankings.

• History hasn't been kind to first-round leaders of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Since the event moved to the TPC Scottsdale in 1987, the first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win just three times. (Tommy Armour III in 1990, Jones in 1997 and Tom Lehman in 2000).

• Villegas' former Florida Gator teammate, Matt Every, reeled off six consecutive birdies (Nos. 17-4) to post an 8-under 63. His six consecutive birdies is a season-best on TOUR, replacing nine others who posted five straight.

• Matt Every's first career professional win came at the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship, vaulting him to a 10th-place finish on that Tour's money list, thus earning him his 2010 exemption to the PGA TOUR.

• A rookie on the PGA TOUR, Every is competing in his fifth event of the season, and 11thof his career. His best previous finish was a T15 at the Farmers Insurance Open last month.

• Another 2010 rookie, Rickie Fowler, continued his solid play with a 6-under 65 in round one. Competing in his sixth event of the season, Fowler finished T5 at last month's Farmers Insurance Open.

• Fowler, 21, drew the attention of the golfing world late last season when he finished T2 after a playoff loss to Troy Matteson at the Frys.com Open, just a week after finishing T7 at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

• Fowler's only previous start at the Waste Management Phoenix Open was last year, playing as an amateur on a sponsor's invitation. He finished T58.

• Should Fowler go on to win, he would replace Jerry Pate as the youngest winner of this event. Pate won in 1977 at the age of 23 years, three months, three days.

• Despite bogeys at the first and last holes, England's Justin Rose managed eight birdies en route to a 6-under 64 in round one. It was his best opening round since a 12-under 60 at the 2006 Funai Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort.

• Rose, still in search of his first PGA TOUR win, has posted a pair of top-25 finishes in his four previous starts this year. In his first start of the year, he finished T12 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, followed by a T22 two weeks later at the Farmers Insurance Open.

• Rose is competing in his third Waste Management Phoenix Open, and first since 2007. He finished T33 in 2006 and T39 in 2007.

• Mark Wilson carded seven birdies and had just one bogey en route to a 6-under 65 in round one. He is competing in just his third Waste Management Phoenix Open, with a best finish of T9 in 2008.

• Wilson finished T28 in Mexico last week in defense of his 2009 Mayakoba Golf Classic title.

• Wilson's wife, Amy, returned to their Illinois home yesterday and won't return to a TOUR event until after the birth of their second child, due in mid April.

• Fifty-year-old Scottsdale resident Tom Lehman opened with a 5-under 66. It marked his lowest opening round at TPC Scottsdale since posting a 7-under 64 in 2001, when he finished T7.

• Lehman, who won the event in 2000, is competing in his 19th Waste Management Phoenix Open. He missed the cut here last year.

• Lehman's only other start on the TOUR this year came with T16 honors at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He has made two Champions Tour starts, both of which yielded top-5 finishes.

• History does not bode well for defending champions at the Waste Management Phoenix Open as a successful title defense has occurred just five times dating back to the event's 1932 inception. Johnny Miller achieved the feat most recently in 1975. Defending champion Kenny Perry posted an opening-round, 3-under 68.

• Bogey-free rounds on Thursday: Villegas (62), Every (63), Fowler (65), Perez (65), Johnson (66), Saunders (66), McLachlin (67), Kim (67), Collins, (67) and Toms (68).

• The par-4 14th hole played the most difficult at 4.257. The par-4 17th played the easiest at 3.431.

• Scoring Averages at TPC Scottsdale:

• WD's prior to the start of the first round: Daniel Chopra withdrew when his wife went into labor with twins.