Tom Kite takes opening day honours

Tom Kite shot a 4-under-par 68 to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Royal Caribbean Classic on Friday.

Gary Koch, Don Pooley, Bruce Fleisher, J.C. Snead and Bruce Summerhays all finished one stroke behind Kite on the first day of the Champion Tour's first full-field event. All but Fleisher shot a 34 on the par-37 back nine.

The 54-year-old Kite opened with a birdie on the first hole, and had three consecutive birdies on Nos. 9, 10 and 11. He closed with birdies on two of the last three holes, and his six birdies helped compensate for bogeys on Nos. 8 and 13.

Swirling wind conditions and the 6,942-yard course's grainy Bermuda greens played havoc with the field of 78 players, and led to Kite finishing with the tournaments highest first-round leading score since 1992.

"It was a good solid round," said Kite, a six-time winner on the Champions Tour. "Anything under par is a good score today. This course is playing long.

"It was tough to get it close to the pin."

"There were really tough conditions out there," said Fleisher. "It's nice to get this one under your belt. The course played exceptionally long and we had some tough pin placements."

Koch, who has never won a Champions Tour event, came into the clubhouse as the early leader with a 3-under-par 69. The 52-year-old NBC broadcaster had a bogey-free round to match his first-day total from last years event, when he finished tied for 17th.

Pooley and two-time tournament winner Fleisher also birdied Nos. 9, 10 and 11, and were tied with Koch atop the leaderboard before Kite mounted his late charge.

Summerhays finished with three birdies on the back nine to create a five-way tie for second.

Defending champion Dave Barr finished nine strokes off Kite's lead with a 77.

Mark McCumber led the field with a 31 on the front nine, before finishing at 72.

Former baseball pitcher and Champions Tour hopeful Rick Rhoden finished with a 3-over 75.

The $1.45 million tournament is the first of 30 full-field events for the Champions Tour, known as the Senior PGA Tour prior to last season.

• Kite's 4-under-par 68 was the highest score to lead the event after the opening round since 1992 when Bruce Crampton and George Archer also led with 68s. However, Crampton and Archer's scores were posted when the par was 71.

• Kite's 69 was his 16th consecutive round par or better dating back to last season. During that span, 10 of his last 11 rounds have been in the 60s.

• Fleisher continues to enjoy success at the Crandon Park Golf Course. Fleisher, who resides in nearby Ballen Isles, opened with a 3-under-par 69 and is currently tied for second. A two-time winner of this event (1999, 2000), Fleisher was also tied for second in 2002 and has won more money than any player in tournament history -- $462,716.

• Koch duplicated his opening-round effort of a year ago when he shot a 3-under-par 69 on Friday. After his 3-under 69 in his Champions Tour debut last year, Koch followed with rounds of 72-74 and finished tied for 17th. Koch was the only player who did not make a bogey on Friday.

• Dana Quigley continues to roll along. He increased his Champions Tour-record totals by playing in the 234th consecutive tournament for which he's been eligible and the 220th straight tournament overall. Both are Champions Tour records. During his current streak of 220 consecutive starts (including today), Quigley has played 715 rounds, recorded 2,681 birdies, stroked 20,376 putts and hit 50, 325 shots.

• Jerry Pate and Mark James made their Champions Tour debuts on Friday. James shot a 1-over-par 73, while Pate finished with a 7-over-par 79. Sam Torrance, a former European Ryder Cup captain, started his 2004 season with a 1-over-par 73 as well.

• Barr, the defending champion of this event, shot an opening-round 77, while 2002 winner John Jacobs fired an even-par 72.

• Dale Douglass made his 16th start in this event on Friday, more than any other player in tournament history. Douglass shot a 3-over-par 75.

• The most difficult hole was No. 5 with an average score of 4.410 (+.410) followed by No. 11 with an average score of 4.295 (+.295). There were just two birdies on No. 5 --Fleisher and Lonnie Nielsen as well as only two on No. 7 -- Nielsen and Jim Ahern. The easiest hole was No. 14 with an average score of 4.795 (-.205). There were no eagles on Friday.

• Only 14 players finished under par on Friday and the field averaged 73.731. A year ago, the field averaged 73.407 in the opening round with 25 sub-par rounds. Friday's scoring average was the highest opening round average since 1997 when the field averaged 73.744.

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