Toms leads after first round 63

Casey Martin parked his cart and walked up the 18th green with a limp that has become a way of life. The applause that greeted him had as much to do with his scorecard as his courage.

In his debut today as the first PGA Tour member on wheels, Martin calmed his nerves by chipping in for eagle early in his round and wound up with a 4-under-par 68 at Indian Wells to trail leader David Toms by five shots in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

The majority of the gallery following Martin under a hot desert sun belonged to the media, curious to see how the 27-year-old Stanford University graduate who sued the PGA Tour for a right to ride would perform.

"When there are a lot of cameras, you don't want to do anything stupid," he said.

Not to worry. Aside from missing a 14-inch putt for his only bogey of the first round, and not converting several other birdie chances, Martin didn't look like a player in his first tournament since earning his PGA Tor card three months ago.

"I could have really gone low if I had made some putts," he said.

The lowest round on a windless day belonged to Toms, a two-time winner last year who opened with a 9-under 63 at Indian Wells, one of four courses used in the 90-hole tournament.

Playing the back nine first, Toms opened with four straight pars before holing out from a greenside bunker for an eagle on the par-5 14th.

"That got me going," said Toms, who ranked fifth on the PGA Tour last year in eagles. "The first couple holes, I didn't make anything. And then I made a nice putt on 15 for birdie and that kind of started my round. I just played real solid after that."

He got up and down from the bunker to make birdie at the 18th hole, adding birdie putts of 12 and 15 feet, respectively, at the second and third holes. At the par-5 fifth, Toms used a 5-wood for his approach shot and knocked it within five feet to set up another eagle.

He could have completed an impressive triumph with a third eagle but two-putted from 30 feet for birdie at No. 8.

"I have to approach the next four days just like I approached today," said Toms, who won nearly $2 million last year to finish 10th on the PGA Tour money list. "The fact is that somebody is going to shoot low every day. It happens all the time as long as the weather holds up like it did today.

"I think I don't play very well when I know I have to shoot low, so I just have to play the golf course. As as long as the weather stays nice the golf courses aren't very difficult."

Former PGA champion Bob Tway was among those at 64. The group at 65 included Glen Day and Steve Pate, the runner-up last year and victim of the greatest closing round in PGA Tour history.

That belongs to David Duval, who returned to the Arnold Palmer Private Course at PGA West for the first time since his 59. Duval was nine strokes worse today.

"This course seemed like they added a few holes," he said.

Still, his 68 left him right in the thick of the tournament with four rounds to play. It also left him tied with Martin, who played his first round under a microscope.

"I get nervous before I play, even if it's a $2 Nassau with my buddies," Martin said to 27 reporters who surrounded him after his round. "But I was more nervous because of you all, and wanting to play well."

He held up his end of the bargain.

Martin didn't expect to be treated like any other PGA Tour rookie, and that certainly wasn't the case on the first hole. After splitting the fairway with a 3-wood, he glanced at a rule sheet and then asked a tour official to clarify a situation that pertained only to him.

Was his caddie allowed to ride with him between the 18th green and first tee?

The nerves showed on No. 11, his second hole, when Martin lipped out from 14 inches. Three holes later, he came up short on the 483-yard par-5 and chipped in for eagle from about 25 feet.

"That settled me down a little bit," he said.

Martin made another 25-foot birdie from just off the green at No. 17, and added birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 to get to 68.

The second round will be packed with irony. Among the three amateurs he gets on Thursday is Dick Ferris, the chairman of the PGA Tour policy board who testified against Martin two years ago when Martin sued for the right to use a cart.

"As an individual, Casey ... I think he's wonderful," Ferris said after his round. "We also feel walking is an integral part of the tour."

Martin and Ferris chatted during a delay on the 16th tee, and Martin said he expects no problems on Thursday.

"I think he's a nice guy," Martin said. "He also went out of his way to testify against me. We'll be friends out there. I just won't read his putts for him."

Today wasn't the first time Martin used a cart against the best players in the world. He qualified for the 1998 U.S. Open and tied for 23rd, and also played two PGA Tour events later that year on sponsors' exemptions.

The difference now is that he belongs. Martin earned his card by finishing 14th on the 1999 Nike Tour money list, and likely will play at least 25 tournaments this year.

Hanging over him is the tour's appeal and his own health. The ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco could be returned any day. Of greater concern is the circulatory disease in Martin's right leg that makes it virtually impossible for him to walk 18 holes over four rounds. The leg is getting progressively worse.

"I'm not worried about the courts as much as I am his leg," said Melinda Martin, his mother.

For one day, Martin showed there was nothing wrong with his game.

The Hope Classic is traditionally a birdiefest. A score like 68 is a good start, but rounds similar to what Toms had today are required at some point.

Indian Wells played the easiest of the four courses with an average of 67.72, while the toughest track today was La Quinta at 70.69. The lowest score at La Quinta was a 68 by Fred Couples.

Only 14 players failed to break par, including Gary Nicklaus (74) and Arnold Palmer (82).

"You've got to shoot like 88-under," Day said. "I'm only 6-under, so I've got a long way to go. If we were going out to dinner, we haven't even valeted the car yet."

Even Martin can appreciate that.

He had no expectations for the week, especially since cold weather in his home of Eugene, Ore., kept him from practicing as much as he would have liked. Still, a 68 with the number of putts he missed was not a bad way to start.

And Martin can only hope the media frenzy will slow by the end of the week -- although it has its advantages.

"If I'm able to get into contention soon, I won't be as nervous as some other first-time players because I've been through this," he said.

DIVOTS: Arnold Palmer, playing in his 40th Hope Classic, took a 10 on one hole and had an 82 at PGA West. ... Davis Love III, coming off his first winless season since 1994, was in the lead at 8-under until he hit his drive out of bounds on his final hole at Indian Wells for a double bogey. He wound up with a 66. ... Martin has received a sponsor's exemption to play in the Nissan Open in Los Angeles.

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