Round 1 Notebook: Viking Classic

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Weather: Sunny. High of 86. Winds N-NW 7-15 mph.

• Arjun Atwal, Bill Haas, Bill Lunde, Ken Duke, Brett Quigley and Brendon de Jonge (the only player to play in the afternoon) all posted 6-under 66s to share the first-round lead at the Viking Classic -- the first of the five-event PGA TOUR Fall Series. A season-high seven players shared the lead at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

Arjun Atwal

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Round 1 Wrap-up

• Atwal, making his first PGA TOUR start since winning the Wyndham Championship, carded a 6-under 66 during the first round of the Viking Classic. It is his eighth round in the 60s in his last nine rounds, dating to an opening-round 68 at The Greenbrier Classic.

• Atwal has now led or shared the lead in his last five rounds on TOUR (all four at Wyndham). This is the fourth first-round lead/co-lead of his career, and the third of the season. His previous leads came at the 2005 Zurich Classic of New Orleans (finished T5), 2010 AT&T National (T41) and the 2010 Wyndham Championship (1st).

• Atwal is making his 11th start of the year, with top-10 finishes at the Wyndham Championship (1st) and the HP Byron Nelson Championship (T7). He sits No. 64 on the TOUR money list.

• Atwal is making his third start at the Viking Classic, finishing T67 in 2006 and T39 in 2007.

Bill Haas

• Haas, who recently finished one spot out of making the 30-man field for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, opened the Viking Classic with a 6-under 66. Haas, at No. 40 on the money list, is seeking his second win of the season (Bob Hope Classic).

• Haas is no stranger to success at Annandale GC. In his two starts here, he finished T3 in 2007 with rounds of 68-67-70-72 and T4 in 2008 with rounds of 69-69-66-68. He is now a collective 33-under in nine rounds here.

• Haas has now held at least a share of the first-round lead three times in his career, finishing T4 at the 2006 Wachovia Championship and T10 at the 2009 Wyndham Championship.

Bill Lunde

• Lunde recorded a 6-under 66 in his first appearance at the Viking Classic. Since winning the Turning Stone Resort Championship, he has missed the cut in his last two starts at the PGA Championship and The Barclays.

• Lunde had never held the lead after a round on the PGA TOUR prior to Thursday, with the exception of his name being atop the leaderboard at the conclusion of the Turning Stone Resort Championship.

Ken Duke

• Making just his fourth TOUR start of the year, Duke posted a 6-under 66 as he seeks just his second top-25 of the season (T21 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans). He is making his fourth start at the Viking Classic and is seeking his third-consecutive top-25 finish (T11 in 2007 and T25 in 2008).

• Duke has now held the first-round lead three times in his career, finishing T18 at the 2008 John Deere Classic and T23 at the 2009 HP Byron Nelson Championship.

Brett Quigley

• Quigley has shared the first-round lead six times in his career, but has never held solo possession of the lead.

• Active players without a PGA TOUR victory through 2010 TOUR Championship:

Brendon de Jonge

• With six top-10 finishes this season (T11 on TOUR), de Jonge enters the Viking Classic ranked No. 36 on the money list. He opened with a 6-under 66 in his second appearance at Annandale (T29 -- 2007).

• This is the second time de Jonge has held at least a share of the first-round lead, finishing T13 at the 2009 Puerto Rico Open in his first attempt.

Johnson Wagner

• Wagner carded a 1-under 71, thanks to a double eagle on the par-5 seventh hole, with a 3-iron from 257 yards. It is the sixth albatross of the season, and the first since Vijay Singh performed the feat on No. 2 during the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Miscellaneous Stats

• The first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win just eight of 40 stroke-play events on TOUR this year, most recently by Atwal at the Wyndham Championship.

• Troy Merritt birdied No. 18 to move to 13-under in the Kodak Challenge, one shot shy of leader Rickie Fowler.

• Defending champion (2008) Will MacKenzie opened with a 1-under 71. He is defending this year after the Viking Classic was rained out a year ago.

• Twelve players in the Viking Classic field have Ryder Cup experience, including Chad Campbell (2004, 2006, 2008), David Duval (1999, 2002), Chris DiMarco (2004, 2006), Brad Faxon (1995, 1997), Jim Gallagher, Jr. (1993), Lee Janzen (1993-97), Jeff Maggert (1995, 1997, 1999), Chris Riley (2004), Henrik Stenson (2006, 2008), David Toms (2002, 2004, 2006), Boo Weekley (2008) and Brett Wetterich (2006).

• Bogey-free rounds: R1: 66 -- Bill Haas, Bill Lunde; 67 -- Jeff Quinney, Nathan Green; 68 -- Craig Barlow; 69 -- Tom Pernice Jr.

• Sixty-five players (out of 132) posted sub-par rounds on Thursday, with 80 posting par-or-better rounds.

• Scoring Averages at the par-72 Annandale GC:

• The par-4 17th hole played the toughest on Thursday, yielding a 4.341 average. The par-5 seventh hole was the easiest with a 4.515 average.