Roberts leads after opening 64

PGA Tour veteran Loren Roberts, who turned 49 last month, hit a bogey-free, seven-under-par 64 to grab the lead after the first round of the Western Open on Thursday.

Australia's Robert Allenby, the winner here in 2000, was in second place on 65, two strokes ahead of British Open champion Ben Curtis, Chad Campbell, JL Lewis, Jonathan Byrd, Robert Gamez, Australia's Mark Hensby and Stephen Ames of Canada.

Among a large group of players on three-under 68 were former U.S. Open champion Scott Simpson, South Korea's KJ Choi and Australian Geoff Ogilvy. World number one Tiger Woods returned a one-under 70 at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club.

Woods had an up-and down round, carding five birdies, one double bogey and two bogeys. He was tied for 36th place, as was world number five Davis Love III.

Fiji's Vijay Singh, the world number three, opened with a 72.

Roberts, regarded as one of the top putters on tour, was again delighted with his work on the greens.

"I didn't hit anything real close to the hole but I was very good in the 12 to 15 to 18-foot range with the putter today," he told reporters.

"I made several of those, including a couple for pars in probably about that 10 to 12-foot range, which really kept the round going."

Roberts added: "I'm not going to impress anybody with length (off the tee), and I don't hit at a lot of flags. I try to hit really the safe side of the pins and play to my strength, which is the putter.

"I drove the ball in the fairway just about every hole. If you're going to make some putts, it equates to a low score. I had the ball in good position today.

"I didn't get it above the hole very often. I was always pretty much under the hole and I didn't have any tough putts."

Despite having made 11 of 12 cuts this season, Roberts has only one top-10 finish, and that was back in February at the Nissan Open. He also failed to qualify for the U.S. Open.

Three weeks ago at the Buick Classic, Roberts shot a 64 in the third round to seize the 54-hole lead. He followed with a 78 on Sunday to tie for 16th place.

"I really haven't cared for the way that I've played," Roberts said. "I've had little things here and there, been fighting tennis elbow, having back problems and stuff.

"I felt like three weeks ago I should have been right there. Usually when I get there, I don't fall back that much. I felt like I should have done much better, so I was very disappointed at Westchester, but I put that behind me."

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