Four share first day lead

This part of the state hasn't seen much rain in the past few months so the land is dry and hard. Simply put, it means low scores are the order of the day, and probably the week, at the $400,000 BUY.COM Permian Basin Open.

Monday qualifier Dan Olsen, Tour rookie Vaughn Taylor and veterans Kevin Johnson and Rocky Walcher took advantage of a windless Thursday to shoot 8-under-par 64s and grab a share of the first-round lead. Kent Jones and Brian Wilson are one stroke behind while nine others, including tournament winners J. J. Henry, Jeff Hart and Briny Baird, are just two off the pace.

A total of 97 players in the field of 144 were at par or better Thursday. The scoring average was a deceptive 71.243 on the par-72 layout at the Club at Mission Dorado.

"If there's no rough, I'm taking the shortcut," said Olsen, who hit only 3-of-14 fairways but admitted he wasn't always aiming for the greener, shorter grass. "A lot of times it was intentional. I think fairways (hit) is misleading."

When the 33-year-old Olsen did miss, it wasn't by much.

"My mistakes off the tees were pretty good," he said. "It's a shoot-out this week, especially with no rough and no wind. This week is rewarding a guy who can let the air out of it and place it."

For example, Olsen, who started his round on the back nine, chose to play his closing tee shot down the right side of the ninth fairway and not worry if the ball wound up in the rough or the adjacent first fairway.

"I miss it left about once every decade. The pin was back left," he said. "I want the best angles."

Olsen's bogey-free round contained several surprises, most notably, just one birdie on the four par-5s.

"I can't believe I only got one today," said the 1990 Indiana graduate who averaged 342.5 yards on his measured drives. "I've seen guys who are long. I don't consider myself a bomber."

Olsen, who has spent most of his professional career playing mini-tour events in the U. S. and overseas, has been red-hot in the heat of the summer. He won a developmental tour event in Atlanta last Thursday, shooting a 63 on the final day. He finished second in the Monday qualifier for this event, posting an 8-under-par 64.

Added together, that's 25 under for his last 54 holes.

"I'm not surprised by it," Olsen said. "I've been such an underachiever over the years, I'm tired of it. Being eight under, hooray, but it's only one day. I'm not going to sit around and be impressed with myself. This is the end of the first quarter. I know better. My goal is to try and shoot 23 or 24 under this week. I'm one-third of the way there."

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