•Americans occupy four of the top-five spots on the leaderboard after the first round of the 2006 Senior British Open Championship. Ireland’s Des Smyth (T4) is the low European player after the first day of play. The last time Peter Jacobsen led after the first round of a Champions Tour event was when he had sole possession of the top spot on Thursday at the 2004 U.S. Senior Open. Craig Stadler shared the first-round lead earlier this year at the FedEx Kinko’s Classic while Loren Roberts was the sole first-round leader at the Turtle Bay Championship in late January this year.

•Thursday’s 5-under 65 was Peter Jacobsen’s low numerical round of the year and was Craig Stadler’s best round since he had 65 on Saturday at the Boeing Championship at Sandestin in mid-May.

•David and Danny Edwards both got off to solid starts in the championship, each carding 3-under 67s in the opening round. The Edwards brothers both placed in the top 10 at the Regions Charity Classic (Danny /T6, David/3rd) and Allianz Championship (Danny/T10, David/T10) earlier this year.

•Gary Player, a two-time winner of the Senior British Open at Turnberry (1988, 1990), opened the championship with a 2-under-par 69, one shot better than his age. Player’s round today marked the third time in his career that he has bettered his age and first since he closed with 68 in June of 2005 at the Bank of America Championship near Boston. It also marked the second time this year on the Champions Tour that a professional shot his age or better. In mid-May, 63-year-old Raymond Floyd shot a closing-round 63 at the Boeing Championship at Sandestin.

•Defending champion Tom Watson opened with a 3-over 73. Watson is attempting to join Gary Player (1988, 1990, 1997) as a three-time winner of the Senior British Open and is also attempting to become the first player since Christy O’Connor, Jr. (1999, 2000) to successfully defend his title at this event. Watson won the 2003 Senior British Open at Turnberry and claimed last year’s event at Royal Aberdeen, besting Des Smyth in a playoff.

•New Zealand’s Bob Charles, playing in his 20th Senior British Open, carded a 2-over 72 today. A two-time winner (1989, 1993), Charles is the only player to compete in all 20 tournaments.

•The 449-yard, par-4 14th played as the most difficult today with a stroke average of 4.420. Only four birdies were made on the hole (Craig Stadler, Peter Jacobsen, Doug Johnson,Martin Poxon)..

•With ideal weather conditions Thursday, the Ailsa course at the Westin Turnberry Resort played somewhat easier than it did in the opening round of the 2003 Senior British Open Championship here. Three years ago, the first-round scoring average at Turnberry for the 144-man field was 73.35 compared to 72.25 this year. There were 20 rounds in the 60s on Thursday at the 2003 event compared to 32 on Thursday in 2006.

•A total of 19 countries are represented in the field at this year’s Senior British Open. The field includes players from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United States, Wales and Zimbabwe.

•Scotland’s John Chillas was forced to retire from the championship after 13 holes. Chillas was 3-over for his round at the time of the withdrawal.