Stadler & Purtzer lead with opening 64s

Craig Stadler spent Friday doing what he loves to do best -- watching his putts disappear into the cup.

Stadler and Tom Purtzer carded 8-under 64s and shared the first-round lead at the 3M Championship.

Sammy Rachels birdied five of the first seven holes and finished tied with Tom Kite at 65. Defending champion Wayne Levi birdied the last three holes was alone in fourth place at 6 under. Eighteen players were within four shots of the lead at the Tournament Players Club of the Twin Cities.

Stadler completed his first round with a run of four straight birdies, including a 61-foot putt at No. 16, and shot a 30 on the back nine.

"It was very enjoyable to sit there and watch those putts go in," said Stadler, who needed just 12 putts on the inward nine. "I had a lot of good iron shots and made some putts, finally. I think the only bad iron shot I had was on 16, and I made a bomb there for a birdie."

Purtzer made the turn at 3 under, then reeled off five straight birdies to move into a tie for the lead with Stadler at 8 under. He closed out the round with four pars.

"When the wind doesn't blow, when you get greens as good as these are and you know what it's going to do when it lands on the green, it makes it easier," said Purtzer, one of 27 players to break 70 on a sunny, 75-degree day.

Fuzzy Zoeller, one of six players three shots off the lead, said his opening 67 was a great start.

"It's always nice on the first day to get out with a good score," Zoeller said.

Hale Irwin, who has three wins and a runner-up finish in eight Champions Tour events played in Minnesota, is in contention after a 5-under 67. He's tied with Zoeller, Mark McNulty, Eamonn Darcy, Jim Thorpe and Jim Albus.

"I'm not surprised to see the scores go so low," said Irwin, who won said. "Guys like Purtzer and Stadler are so long, and so accurate, they can just step up and bomb away, especially on a day when the temperature's perfect and the conditions are ideal."

Senior British Open champion Pete Oakley had a 1-over 73, while Arnold Palmer, who teamed with Tom Lehman to design the TPC course, opened with a 92.

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