Thatcher leads after rain delay

Rookie Roland Thatcher shot a 6-under-par 66 Thursday to take the early lead at the rain-delayed Reno-Tahoe Open.

Thatcher, a former Auburn star in his first season on the PGA Tour, birdied his first four holes and six of his first eight.

Mark Wiebe and Mark Wilson were a stroke back after 67s, and Corey Pavin was in a group another shot back at 68.

Rain and lightning delayed play for more than four hours, and about half the 132-player field was still on the course when play was suspended because of darkness. Play is to resume early Friday, with the second round to follow at the 7,472-yard Montreux Golf and Country Club.

Mark Calcavecchia came within a foot of a hole-in-one on his last hole of the day. He tapped in for birdie at the 171-yard, par-3 second to get to 5 under with seven holes remaining.

Jose Maria Olazabal was 3 under with seven holes remaining when play was stopped.

Thatcher hit his approach shots inside 10 feet on each of the first four holes -- twice within about 2 feet -- and got to 7 under when he made a 9-foot birdie on his 12th hole of the day.

"It's definitely the kind of start you dream about," Thatcher said. "I haven't had the best of years to this point. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll dial in the distance the way I dialed it in today."

Thatcher has made just four cuts in 14 events this year. His best showing was 68th in the BellSouth Classic in April.

After the first rain delay, Thatcher slipped to 6 under after hitting his approach into a greenside bunker on the 464-yard, par-4 eighth hole.

"It bounced into the bunker and plugged," he said. "I was pretty fortunate to walk away with a bogey."

Calcavecchia made two birdie putts from 15 feet in a front-nine 32. He barely missed another birdie on his 10th hole, but pushed a 12-footer.

"Then I almost made a hole-in-one," he said.

Calcavecchia doesn't mind returning for a 7 a.m. start Friday.

"I love playing early. I'm a good early riser," said Calcavecchia, who has five top-25 finishes this year, including a tie for ninth at the Ford Championship at Doral in March.

Donnie Hammond, Hidemichi Tanaka and Steve Allan were tied with Pavin at 68.

Thatcher, who won the Nationwide Tour's Bank of America Monterey Peninsula Classic in 2002, made a 15-foot birdie putt on his last hole at the PGA tour qualifying tournament last year to earn his tour card.

He barely missed qualifying in 2001, his first year out of college. He needed a par on the last hole at Q-school, but his approach shot cleared the green, hit the cart path and bounced onto the roof of a three-story clubhouse.

"It was real disappointing, but at the same time I probably needed the two years I was on the Nationwide Tour," he said. "And I've definitely had some vindication, so to speak. Needing a par to win and not getting it done and needing a birdie to win and getting it done sort of balances out."

Wiebe, a 23-year PGA tour veteran, had five birdies in a bogey-free round that called one of his best since undergoing surgery on his left elbow in 2001.

"Shooting 5 under is great, but I'm more pleased that since coming back from surgery I've been watching my game come together," Wiebe said. "My putting has been keeping me back the last six or eight months."

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