Weather: Players off both the first and 10th tees. Partly cloudy with highs in the mid-80s and winds from the SE at 10-15 mph.
Round 1 Leaderboard: 1 -- Corey Pavin (66/-6); 2 -- Mark Wiebe (67/-5); 3 -- Russ Cochran (69/-3); T4 -- Jay Don Blake (70/-2), Allen Doyle (70/-2), David Frost (70/-2), Mike Goodes (70/-2), Jay Haas (70/-2), Larry Nelson (70/-2), Tom Pernice, Jr. (70/-2), Loren Roberts (70/-2), Eduardo Romero (70/-2), Hal Sutton (70/-2)
Friday marks the first time that Pavin has been leading/co-leading after the opening round of a Champions Tour event. The last time Pavin was in the position was at the 2008 Buick Open on the PGA TOUR.
Pavin's 6-under 66 today is his best opening round in a stroke-play event on the Champions Tour since he shot 65 in Round 1 of the Allianz Championship in late February. This week is only Pavin's second appearance on the Champions Tour since near the end of August when he was T29 at the JELD-WEN Tradition. After serving as captain of the American team at the recent Ryder Cup matches in Wales, Pavin played at the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship two weeks ago and was T57.
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Thus far on the 2010 Champions Tour, Friday leaders/co-leaders have won five of the previous 23 official events played. In the six-year history of the Administaff Small Business Classic, Jay Haas (2006) and Bernhard Langer (2007) are the only first-round leaders to win this event.
In the six-year history of this event, every winner has opened with a round in the 60s and no champion has posted a round above par.
Mark Wiebe's 5-under 67 today matched his opening round last year at this event and was his best start in a Champions Tour event since a 67 in Round 1 of the Boeing Classic in late August. Wiebe is bidding to make it into the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship but will need a late run in Texas to do so. He's currently 40th on the money list with $432,946, just under $80,000 back of Keith Fergus who currently sits on the bubble at No. 30.
Both Steve Lowery and Kenny Perry made their debuts on the Champions Tour today. Lowery, a three-time winner on the PGA TOUR, carded 3-over 75 (T47) while Perry, a 14-time winner on the PGA TOUR who is playing in his first TOUR event since late August, opened with a 6-over 78 (T67).
Wiebe was the only player with a bogey-free round today ... Pavin's seven birdies were the most by a player in the field after Round 1 ... Ben Crenshaw, Morris Hatalsky, Larry Nelson and Peter Senior each made an eagle today ... Bob Gilder made his 168th consecutive start for which he's eligible while Mark Wiebe made his 50th consecutive start.
Defending champion John Cook started with an even-par 72 today.
J ay Haas' 2-under 70 today extended his streak of sub-par rounds in this event to 15. In all 15 of his rounds at this event, Haas is now a cumulative 60-under-par.
This and That: Jeff Sluman hit all 14 fairways today ... Larry Mize hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation (83.3%), the most in the field ... Keith Fergus had 23 putts, the fewest by a player in Round 1 today ... Fred Couples had the longest measured drive of the day, 303 yards at the par-5 15th hole.
Three players withdrew from the tournament. Bruce Lietzke retired after 9 holes due to food poisoning earlier in the week while both D.A. Weibring (shoulder) and Don Pooley (back) withdrew after shooting 80 in the opening round.
With gusting winds during the day, there were just 22 sub-par rounds and only three scores in the 60s. Last year, with lift, clean and place rules in effect on Friday, a total of 35 players posted sub-par rounds. Today's stroke average of 73.818 was the highest for a first round in tournament history. Here are first round scoring averages for each previous year of the Administaff Small Business Classic.
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In support of October's Breast Cancer Awareness month, volunteers will be wearing pink shirts tomorrow at the Administaff Small Business Classic to support the cause and pink flags will be used on each of the holes on the course. The tournament is a partner with the Houston Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and fans coming to the tournament are encouraged to wear pink when they attend the event.