Local knowledge helps joint leaders

Peter Jacobsen birdied the last hole to forge a tie with Scott McCarron, one stroke ahead of Jean Van de Velde and two others today in the PGA Tour's Reno-Tahoe Open.

Jacobsen, whose Oregon-based company manages the tournament, and McCarron, a hometown favorite, opened with bogey-free 6-under-par 66s.

"There's nothing like being in the hunt,'' said Jacobsen, who has career winnings of more than $5 million but hasn't won on the PGA Tour in five years.

"I had a great year in 1995, but it's sort of been downhill since. "You can quote me on this: Golf is a hard game.''

Jacobsen made a 60-foot birdie putt and hit a 2-iron to the fringe of his par-5, 626-yard closing hole before dropping an 8-footer for birdie. He was in a group with tournament Spanish star Sergio Garcia, who finished an up-and-down round at even par.

McCarron, who was tied for the lead in the 1999 Masters after the first round, lives two hours away in Sacramento and his wife, Jennifer, graduated from Reno High School.

"My wife's family is all from Reno and we have a lot of friends at Reno and Lake Tahoe so it's really neat to play kind of in front of your hometown crowd,'' he said.

"The winds were swirling this afternoon which made club selection hard. A 66 is a great score on this course,'' he said about the 7,552-yard, Jack Nicklaus-designed Montreux Golf and Country Club course.

Steve Flesch, who chipped in for an eagle on a par 5, and Emlyn Aubrey were tied with Van de Velde at 67, followed by Rocco Mediate, Tim Herron, Woody Austin, Mike Sposa and John Rollins at 68.

PGA Championship runner-up Bob May was in a group three strokes off the lead at 69.

Van de Velde bogeyed his first hole but later reeled off four straight birdies.

"It went very interesting, like every day. I had some great shots and some shockers,'' said Van de Velde, the Frenchman famous for squandering a three-stroke lead on the last hole of the 1999 Open.

"I'm pleased. I'd take 5 under every round of my life if I could."

If not for a change in qualifying rules on the PGA European Tour, Van de Velde and Garcia would have been playing this week at the World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational in Ohio as members of last year's European Ryder Cup team. Under the change, the top 12 Europeans on the European tour money list qualified for the NEC.

Garcia said Wednesday he thought it was unfair to make the change -- rewarding players who spent more time on the European tour. But Van de Velde said the move was supported by most tour members.

"If I wanted to be in the NEC I knew what I had to do. I had to play more or better in Europe,'' said Van de Velde, who is splitting his season on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

McCarron, pictured here, shares the first day lead with Peter Jacobsen. Allsport.

The man who hit into a creek and triple-bogeyed the last hole at Carnoustie last year said he continues to be pleased and surprised with the sympathetic support he gets from fans.

"Everywhere I go, people felt for me so they have been nice and supportive. The reception is so good. It helps,'' he said.

Fans seem to appreciate his approach to the game, he said.

"Golf is one thing and life is another,'' Van de Velde said.

"I try to do as good as I can but at the end of the day, whether I shoot a 61 or a 52 or an 82, I don't think the planet Earth is going to stop spinning.''

Van de Velde, starting on the par-4 10th, hit into a greenside bunker and bogeyed his first hole.

"I thought, this is not a good a start,'' he said.

But on his last nine, he birdied the first four holes primarily on the strength of his approach shots. He hit a wedge within 3 feet on the 413-yard, par-4 No. 1, a 9-iron to a foot away on the 429-yard par-4 3rd hole and chipped within a foot on the 518-yard, par-5 4th.

Flesch chipped over a bunker about 75 feet for an eagle on the par-5 14th, but three-putted from 3 feet on one par 3 and bogeyed a pair of par 5s.

"I made a couple of stupid mistakes that cost me,'' said Flesch, who has seven top-10 finishes this year, including tying for fifth in the Nissan Open, the Canon Greater Hartford Open, and the Memorial.

"It's perfect conditions. The greens are so soft you can shoot right at the flag. ... I think there are going to be a lot of birdies because the greens are really smooth and they're a great pace to make putts.''

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