Stankowski returns to form with 66

Paul Stankowski pushed steadily through rising winds for a 6-under-par 66 today that gave him a one-stroke lead over seven golfers in the first round of the $3.4 million Compaq Classic.

Stankowski had seven birdies in afternoon gusts that reached 20 mph. Steve Hart and Glen Day were the only ones of the group tied for second that played in the afternoon. The others, including defending champion Carlos Franco, played in more manageable conditions with winds about 10 mph.

Stankowski bogeyed his final hole on the 7,116-yard English Turn Golf and Country Club.

"Yesterday, I made nine birdies in the pro-am and it was windy," Stankowski said. "So I came out here today and it was windy and I thought, 'Well, birdies can be made here in the wind.' "

Stankowski felt it was a continuation of last week's Shell Houston Open when he followed up a third-round 78 with a 65 on Sunday -- one of three sub-70 rounds. Six of his last nine rounds have been under par.

"You always make mistakes out here," Stankowski said. "It's just that when I made them last week they were all in the wrong places. Today they were in the right places. It's a game of misses, we all know that. Whoever misses it best out here is going to win."

One of Stankowski's misses was on No. 9, his last hole, where he misjudged the wind for his only bogey of the round.

"I enjoy the wind," he said. "It makes you think."

The others at 67 were Scott McCarron, Ernie Els, Bob Burns, and K.J. Choi.

Els, Choi, and Day were the only players to post bogey-free rounds.

Masters champion Vijay Singh was in a group of eight at 68, while 17 players were at 69. Jack Nicklaus led a group of 14 at 70.

Franco, on the strength of his "happy putter," offset two bogeys with seven birdies and needed only 28 putts.

"My putter is coming again," Franco said. "For a long time, the last 10 months, it's sometimes miss, miss, miss, many, many times miss. But now I'm a little more confident. It's more happy now."

Last year's PGA Tour rookie of the year, Franco has finished in the top 10 in four of his 10 events this year. He opened last year's Compaq Classic with a 66, a score he matched in the final round.

McCarron, who won the New Orleans tournament in 1996 after switching to a new driver, played with a new set of irons.

"I had a lot of good feelings stepping on the first tee," McCarron said. "I got off to a good start, birdied the first hole, and I put a new set of irons in my bag this week for the first time since 1991."

McCarron combined an eagle on No. 6, a par-5, with four birdies and a bogey to match his best opening-round score this year.

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