Six share first day lead

The first round of a tournament with no clear-cut favorite produced a potpourri atop the leaderboard.

Along with Tim Herron, Glen Day, and Willie Wood, who each have at least one PGA Tour title to their credit, Kevin Sutherland, Geoff Ogilvy, and Tim Clark shot 5-under-par 67s today. Ogilvy and Clark are rookies playing for PGA Tour money for the first time.

Clark played in the 1998 Masters as an amateur after qualifying by winning the 1997 U.S. Public Links title.

"It's a whole different setup,'' said Clark, a 25-year-old South African who played at North Carolina State. "Playing Augusta is just a dream, and I didn't go there with any expectations. But now I'm a professional. I have to come out and play well and perform, keep my card and stuff.''

If the first tier of names was unfamiliar to some fans, there was relief at 68 in two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer and two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange. Neal Lancaster, Olin Browne, Harrison Frazar, and Kaname Yokoo completed a six-way tie a shot behind.

Robert Gamez, the former University of Arizona player who won the 1990 tournament, was two strokes back along with Mark Wiebe, Lee Porter, Mark Hensby, Stephen Ames, Chris Riley, and Italian rookie Emanuele Canonica.

There was a 25-player logjam at 70.

Notable among them were 1996 U.S. Open winner Steve Jones, 1994 Tucson winner Andrew Magee, 1995 PGA Championship winner Steve Elkington, and John Daly, who has won two majors among his four championships.

Daly's round reflected the erratic play that has plagued him through his battle with alcohol abuse. He birdied six of the first eight holes, then backed off with bogeys on the ninth, 11th, 16th, and 17th holes.

Herron had the round of the day at the Gallery, a John Fought-Tom Lehman design in suburban Marana that plays 251 yards longer than Tucson National's 7,109-yard layout.

He said offseason work with his old coach, Gerald McCullough, helped him to a seven-birdie, two-bogey round in which two other birdie putts lipped out. Herron pronounced himself satisfied with his start this year after a disappointing 2000 season.

"I had my best year in '99,'' said Herron, who won the last of his three titles and $1,511,202 that year. "I kind of wanted to reach the next level where I'm in there all the time to win, and I kind of went backward. You see a lot of guys do that.''

Langer, Lancaster, and Browne also positioned themselves well by shooting low scores at the longer, tougher course, which each golfer must play once before the field returns to National for the weekend.

Fred Couples, the biggest name in the field, struggled to a 71 on the hilly, bunker-infested Gallery but was still only four shots off the pace.

Sutherland was the only player to reach 7-under par, getting there with seven birdies in the first 13 holes.

But he hit bad drives on Nos. 14 and 18, hooking the last into the water and then missing a 6-foot putt to save par.

"The course is in beautiful shape, but it is playing tough,'' Sutherland said. "The wind is blowing, and club selection is tough. I played very well. I hit the ball very solid.''

Ogilvy, a 23-year-old Australian, also bogeyed the 18th hole. Earlier, he chipped in from 15 and 25 feet and holed out a sand wedge for birdies.

"Two chips and a sand iron,'' he said. "That's three greens with no putts.''

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