Gamez leads with opening 66

Robert Gamez and Rich Beem hit stride at the Capital Open. Phil Mickelson hit a house.

On a sunny but soggy morning that produced erratic rounds across the board, Gamez rolled out of bed late and shot a 5-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead over Beem and Notah Begay in Thursday's first round of the final tuneup before the U.S. Open.

``It's sloppy out there,'' said Beem, thankful that the golfers were allowed to lift, clean and place on fairways waterlogged from nearly a month of steady rain. ``Fortunately, we have ball in hand today. If that wouldn't be the case, we would have had some shots that would have gone completely sideways -- they would be questioning our ability.''

Seven players, including former British Open champion Paul Lawrie, were two shots back at 68.

A string of pars was an unusual sight in a field peppered with big names preparing for next week's major at Olympia Fields. Few were more adventurous than Mickelson, whose recent driver problems hit a new nadir when his tee shot struck a house some 60 yards out of bounds to the right at the short par-4 13th.

A man standing on the balcony went to fetch the ball in the grass, but Mickelson told him: ``No, you can keep it.''

Mickelson teed off again and bogeyed the hole. He also had to tee off twice at No. 15 after his drive landed 25 feet out of bounds, and he lost a ball in a water hazard at No. 12. The left-hander even had to play right-handed for one shot, flipping his pitching wedge to get back to the fairway after a wayward drive landed by a tree root on a steep hill at No. 7.

It was therefore extremely remarkable that Mickelson's score was no worse than a 4-over 75.

``My misses are pretty big,'' Mickelson said. ``I thought I hit a lot of good shots, but my bad shots were way off-line.''

Gamez, looking for his first PGA Tour win in 13 years, is one of the few contenders who isn't looking ahead to the U.S. Open. He lost a playoff late Wednesday in a nearby qualifier that lasted two days because of the heavy rains.

``It was hard to get out of bed this morning,'' said Gamez, who arrived at the driving range some 20 minutes before his 8:03 a.m. tee time. ``This is my eighth week in a row playing, and I'm tired. I was a little upset last night.

``But when I got to the tee, I got fired up. I love this golf course.''

In a round typical of the day, Gamez had three birdies and two bogeys in his final six holes. Finishing on the front nine, he took sole possession of first place with a 9-iron tee shot that gave him a 6-foot birdie putt at the par-3 ninth.

``I really thought the course played pretty easy,'' said Gamez, who hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation. ``It played long, but the greens are soft. You can fly the ball right at the hole.''

Beem, who won the tournament in 1999, had an eagle-bogey-bogey-birdie-birdie-bogey stretch in his first nine holes, fighting off ``a bunch of bugs'' as he three-putted No. 18. His eagle was a chip-in from 60 feet with an 8-iron at the par-5 13th. He then went to the front nine and was more steady, making two birdies and seven pars.

``You're still going to hit some squirrelly shots out of the fairways, with all the rain we've had,'' Beem said.

Begay played late in the afternoon after the breeze picked up and the sun dried the course somewhat. He had the only bogey-free round of the day, and his best shot was a 5-iron approach that landed within a foot of the pin at No. 15.

``The conditions are extremely unpredictable,'' Begay said. ``With the swirling wind and trees, it really makes club selection very confusing.''

Beem burst onto the scene here four years ago when he became one of the most obscure players ever to win a PGA Tour event. Now he's the reigning PGA champion, but he feels so strongly about the FBR Capital Open -- formerly the Kemper Open -- that he skipped Jack Nicklaus' Memorial last week to prepare for his return to the TPC at Avenel.

``You hate to miss Jack's tournament, it's such an awesome event,'' Beem said. ``But I like this event a lot.''

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