Partners Lowery & Sutherland lead

Competitors in the Tucson Open, out of the spotlight because they didn't make the field in the simultaneous Match Play Championship one time zone to the west, took it out on the scoreboard Thursday. Steve Lowery and David Sutherland carded 8-under-par 64s -- good only for a one-shot lead on Tom Scherrer and Kevin Wentworth.

"Only one guy is going to win," Sutherland said about the field being diluted by the match play. He had the lead after three rounds in Los Angeles last week, ahead of match-play stars like Tiger Woods and David Duval, and finished 12th.

"It's not like they're giving away 10 championships this week," Sutherland said. "Quite frankly, this tournament field is fairly similar to most of the fields we play on tour after, say, the PGA Championship. I guarantee there's not a lot of guys playing better at the world match play than Kirk Triplett."

The 7,109-yard Tucson National course played soft after a cloudy, breezy day with intermittent drizzle, and there were other spectacular scores.

Steve Flesch, Jim Carter, Blaine McAllister, qualifier Brian Kontak and 1996 U.S. Open winner Steve Jones were two shots back, with cart-riding rookie Casey Martin, Mike Springer, Jason Caron and Triplett, who won in Los Angeles on Sunday, at 67.

Among a group of 10 at 68 was Jean Van de Velde, who was second in last year's British Open and is the first Frenchman to represent Europe in the Ryder Cup.

Martin, who has a circulatory disease that is withering his right leg, obtained a court order allowing him to ride a cart between shots. He shot his best score in 16 rounds on tour despite bogeying No. 18 when his approach was short and he two-putted from 20 feet.

"I played great. I have no complaints," Martin said.

Of the leaders, Sutherland looks to have the hottest hand.

He arrived in Tucson riding a streak of making four consecutive cuts, with each score better than the previous one. After missing the cut in the Bob Hope, he went from from 69th in Phoenix four weeks ago to 56th to 14th to 12th.

"I'm feel like I'm playing good," he said. "Golf is funny. You never feel like, `I'm going to go out and shoot 64 today.' I guess I felt comfortable."

Starting on the back nine in a threesome with Lowery and Scott Dunlap, the 34-year-old Californian birdied the first four holes with no putt longer than 10 feet. He also birdied the seventh hole of his round, made his only bogey after the turn and birdied four of the next eight holes.

He caught up with Lowery, a one-time winner on tour, on the last hole when he sent a 7-iron shot to within six feet and sank the birdie putt.

Lowery's round was mistake-free -- eight birdies without a costly mistake.

He and Sutherland had the lead at the turn, but Lowery parred the 410-yard 10th hole that Sutherland bogeyed, and went to 7-under with birdies of 3 and 25 feet on the 11th and 12th holes.

"I drove it good, I hit good irons, I got the ball in there close," Lowery said. "I felt like I was going to birdie every hole. It was a like a practice round, taking dead aim."

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