Lowery leads after opening 64

Steve Lowery shot an 8-under 64 Thursday and held a two-shot lead after the first round of the B.C. Open.

Lowery, who missed eight cuts and had two withdrawals in 18 events this year, led Barry Cheesman, John Maginnes, Alex Cejka and Harrison Frazar.

Ford Senior Players Championship winner Craig Stadler, 19-year-old Ty Tryon and Nationwide Tour player Jim McGovern were among 15 players another shot back at 5 under.

Conditions on the narrow 6,974-yard En-Joie Golf Club course were nearly ideal, with blue skies, temperatures in the high 70s and little wind. And the players took advantage -- more than 50 broke 70.

"You could really be aggressive out there," said McGovern, playing in only his fourth PGA Tour event of the year. It was perfect."

Maybe that's what Lowery needed. In his previous four rounds, he shot 74, 72, 73, and 76 in missing the cuts at the 100th Western Open and Greater Milwaukee Open. A 26-foot putt for an eagle-3 on his third hole, the 545-yard No. 12, provided a huge early lift in his second-lowest round of the year.

"When you make an eagle, it kind of really gets you going," said Lowery, who had 62 in the third round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in February. "It kept the momentum going for a long time."

After a bogey at No. 13, Lowery finished with six birdies and eight pars. Despite his yearlong struggle, he wasn't that surprised with his performance.

"I hadn't been real good," said Lowery, who finished second three times last year. "I went home and decided I needed to get back to basics and try to simplify it. It seemed to work. I just wasn't sure it was going to happen that fast. It normally takes a while to get scoring once I simplify it."

Frazar, who has three top-10 finishes this year, had six birdies on the front nine. Bogeys at Nos. 11 and 17 helped keep him from a share of the lead.

"I just really felt comfortable on the front nine," said Frazar, who also missed a 4-foot putt for birdie at 15. "I was feeling good knowing that I hadn't missed a shot all day. That was me getting overly aggressive (on 11). I was feeling comfortable with it."

That comfort level momentarily disappeared when his drive on the 441-yard par-4 11th hole disappeared onto the 12th fairway as he tried to avoid a huge willow tree.

"I had hit it pretty well and had been driving it pretty well, so I figured let's go ahead and just keep it rolling, do what we were doing. Let's not back off now," Frazar said. "That was kind of the first hiccup that threw a little doubt in. I took my medicine and moved on."

Maginnes, in only his fifth year on Tour, hadn't broken par since early June at the FBR Capital Open. He was stunned by his score.

"This is a bit of a shock," said Maginnes, who turned 35 on Monday. "I have had some good tournaments and I have had some really awful tournaments, and I've had a lot that were good and bad in the same week.

"I made a lot of putts today, and I missed a few that could have taken me really low," he said. "But when your lowest round in the last month is a 70, you'll take a 66."

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