Olazabal shows welcome return to form

Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal recorded a bogey-free 65 to join Roger Tambellini in a share of the first-round lead at the BellSouth Classic on Thursday, the final PGA event before next week's U.S. Masters.

Craig Bowden holds sole possession of third place, one stroke behind the leaders and a further shot ahead of Tim Petrovic and 2003 PGA champion Shaun Micheel.

Defending champion Ben Crane shares sixth place with the in-form Adam Scott of Australia, South Africa's Rory Sabbatini, Billy Mayfair, Brian Gay and 1988 U.S. Open winner Scott Simpson.

Olazabal openly admits that he has been going through a run of poor form, and this year the 38-year-old has missed the cut in three of seven PGA tournaments and withdrew from another after the first round.

His best finish is a tie for 32nd in the Nissan Open and his earnings stand at a meagre $55,357.

"It's been a struggle, really," Olazabal said. "I am going through a tough spell.

"The scores are no good. One day I might have a good round and then the following day, I can't follow that with another round. It has been frustrating, yes, but all I can do is keep on trying."

Unfortunately for the twice U.S. Masters champion, this season has been a continuation of his mediocre play in 2003.

The problem, Olazabal said, was a bad swing.

"I think it's a matter of technical problems," he said.

"If you are swinging the club OK, then there is no reason why you should not hit good shots. When you keep on missing shot after shot, it's not a matter of confidence.

"Obviously confidence disappears in the long term, but when you hit three bad shots in a row and you go to the next tee and you've missed another two shots, it's not a matter of confidence. It's just a matter of bad swinging."

On Thursday, however, his swings were very good.

"It was an extremely good round for me," Olazabal said.

"No bogeys was the key for today's round. I made a few good up-and-downs on the front nine and that kept the round going. I hit a lot of solid iron shots on to the green.

"I put the ball pretty close most of the time, and the driver didn't hurt me that much. That's the combination of why I scored that well today."

Olazabal was one of the later starters and avoided the chilly morning temperatures that dipped to near freezing.

A stiff breeze made the temperatures feel even colder.

"It's not easy at all to play in those conditions," Olazabal said. "I think in that sense, in the afternoon, even though it was cold, it was much better than in the morning for sure."

Tambellini, a 29-year-old veteran of the Nationwide Tour whose best career PGA Tour is a tie for 25th in this year's Buick Invitational, got the worst of the cold weather with an 8:12 a.m. start.

"With a round like this, you don't pick them; they kind of pick you," Tambellini said.

"It's not something that I would have ever dreamed of doing this morning, waking up freezing to your bones, your swing doesn't feel like it's on track. My putting stroke didn't feel great.

"But yet, if you just take it shot by shot, and just try and hit the fairways somehow, skank it up there in the fairway, skank it up there on the green, you eventually find your swing.

"So it did play tough out there and I'm proud of the way I played."

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