Round 1 Notebook: Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial

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Weather: Sunny and hot. High in the lower 90s. Winds ENE 4-8 mph.

• Jeff Overton, Jason Bohn and Blake Adams carded matching 7-under 63s on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the 2010 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. By comparison, the opening-round tournament record was set by Patrick Sheehan (62) in 2005. Brian Davis sits just one shot back after a 6-under 64.

RELATED

Leaderboard
Scorecard: Overton
Scorecard: Bohn
Scorecard: Adams
The Live Report
Photos: Round 1

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• Bohn and Overton finished first and second, respectively, at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in late April.

• This marks the fourth consecutive year that 63 has led after the first round (2007 -- Anthony Kim, Kevin Na; 2008 -- Johnson Wagner; 2009 -- Tim Clark, Woody Austin, Steve Stricker; 2010 -- Overton, Bohn, Adams). This is the eighth straight year a round of 64 or better has led after day one.

Jeff Overton

• Overton's previous best round on the PGA TOUR was a second-round 64 at the 2008 Valero Texas Open.

• Overton is making his second start at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (T13-2009).

• Overton's 6-under 29 is just one off of the back-nine course record at Colonial, set by Keith Clearwater during a second-round 61 in 1993. Clearwater parred the first two holes before reeling off seven consecutive birdies.

• This represents the third first-round lead/co-lead of Overton's career. The others came at the 2008 Legends Reno-Tahoe Open (finished T37) and the 2008 Turning Stone Resort Championship (T10).

• Overton, No. 27 in the FedExCup standings, has finished runner-up in two of his last four starts, including a T2 at last week's HP Byron Nelson Championship and a solo-second at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

• Overton has had Eric Larson serving as his caddie the last couple of weeks. Larson is the long-time caddie of Mark Calcavecchia and most recently Anthony Kim (through 2009).

Jason Bohn

• Bohn is making his fifth start at the Crowne Plaza Invitational (T56-2006, T18-2007, T52-2008, T22-2009).

• This represents the third first-round lead/co-lead of Bohn's career. The others came at the 2004 Michelin Championship (finished T23) and the 2010 Zurich Classic of New Orleans (1st).

• Bohn, No. 18 in the FedExCup standings, is coming off a two-week break since finishing T64 at THE PLAYERS Championship. He notched his second-career win in late April at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, five years after winning the 2005 B.C. Open.

• Jason Day nearly withdrew due to illness (allergies) prior to the start of last week's HP Byron Nelson Championship. Luckily for Day, he battled through and went on to post his first career PGA TOUR win. On Wednesday night, Bohn managed just a couple of hours of sleep due to severe pains in his left ear, which continued throughout the first round. He was planning to see a doctor shortly after Thursday's 7-under 63.

Blake Adams

• Adams' 63 equals his low round on the PGA TOUR, posted during the second round of the 2010 Verizon Heritage. He is playing his rookie season on TOUR after finishing No. 3 on the 2009 Nationwide Tour money list.

• This represents the second first-round lead/co-lead of Adams' career. Last week, he held a share of the first-round lead at the HP Byron Nelson Championship en route to a T2 finish.

Tim Clark

• Clark's 3-under 67 is his 15th round in the 60s out of his last 21 rounds at Colonial Country Club.

• Clark, making his 207th career start on TOUR, is coming off of his first-career victory at THE PLAYERS Championship. He is currently No. 4 on the FedExCup standings, with four top-10 finishes in 11 previous starts.

• Clark is teeing it up for the seventh time at Colonial. After missing the cut in his first start in 2003, he has accumulated five straight top-25s and two consecutive runner-up finishes (T14-2004, T21-2005, T12-2007, T2-2008, T2-2009).

John Daly

• John Daly's 4-under 66 is his first bogey-free round on the PGA TOUR since the second round of the 2008 Bob Hope Classic (Round 2).

Vijay Singh

• Vijay Singh's 3-under 67 is just his second sub-70 round in his last 14 rounds on TOUR (opening-round 69 en route to a missed cut at THE PLAYERS Championship).

• Entering the week, Singh had missed the cut in four of five starts for the first time in his 438-event TOUR career (calendar season). He has failed to play the final two rounds in his last six starts, the longest stretch of his career (Note: he made the cut but did not play the final two rounds after the Valero Texas Open was reduced to the low 60 and ties):

• Singh is making his eighth-career start at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He has finished inside the top 12 in four of his last five starts here (T11-1999, T41-2000, T11-2001, T12-2002, T6-2009).

Miscellaneous Stats

• Australian Aron Price was the beneficiary of a late withdrawal by Dustin Johnson. He made the most of the opportunity on Thursday, opening with a 5-under 65.

• Nathan Green opened with a 5-under 65 in his fourth start at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He is seeking his third top-5 finish here (T4-2006, T5-2007, T26-2008).

• Ricky Barnes carded a 4-under 66 in his inaugural appearance at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

• Woody Austin (67) is making his 10th 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), 2006 (T17) and 2009 (T6).

• The first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win just four of 21 stroke-play events on TOUR this year, most recently Jason Day at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

• In the previous 62 playings of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, the first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to claim victory only 15 times. Dating to 1989, just two first-round leaders have gone on to win the Invitational (Ian Baker-Finch in 1989 and Stricker in 2009).

• 1985 and 1996 Crowne Plaza Invitational champion Corey Pavin is making his 27th consecutive start at the event. He opened with a 3-under 67.

• Day (66) is seeking to become just the second player to win the TOUR stops in Dallas and Fort Worth in the same season. Ben Hogan, in 1946, is the only player to perform the feat.

• Seven past champions of the Colonial are competing this week: Stricker (2009/68), Phil Mickelson (2000, 2008/71), Rory Sabbatini (2007/67), Tim Herron (2006/67), Kenny Perry (2003, 2005/68), Steve Flesch (2004/73) and Pavin (1985, 1996/67).

• International players have won the last four TOUR events, the longest stretch since a seven-event streak in 2008.

• Both Overton and Bohn birdied the par-3 13th hole -- this week's Kodak Challenge Hole -- en route to 7-under 63s. There will be one designated Kodak Challenge hole at 30 different TOUR events. Players, who must play at least 18 of the holes to be eligible, will count their lowest score relative to par on the Kodak Challenge Hole made during an official competition round. The player with the lowest cumulative score at the end of the challenge wins. Last year, Kevin Streelman won the inaugural Kodak Challenge and its $1 million prize.

• Bogey-free rounds: Overton (63), Bryce Molder (65), Carl Pettersson (65), Zach Johnson (65), Daly (66), Kris Blanks (65), Michael Bradley (67), Cameron Beckman (67), Tim Petrovic (68).

• Colonial Country Club shows its teeth over the stretch of holes from Nos. 3-5, known as the "Horrible Horseshoe." On Thursday, the holes played as the third, second and fourth toughest holes, respectively.

• The par-4 18th hole played the toughest on Thursday, yielding a 4.264 average and just seven birdies. The par-5 first hole was the easiest with a 4.579 average.

• Chris Tidland withdrew following a 2-over 72 for personal reasons.