Matt Gogel leads after record round

American Matt Gogel fired a flawless eight-under 63 to set a Congressional Blue course record and grab the first round lead at the Booz Allen Classic in Potomac, Maryland on Thursday, before lightning halted play.

Gogel, who has missed the cut in nine of 13 events this season and is without a top 15 finish, began his round at the historic Congressional Golf Club with five consecutive pars but then struck red-hot form with birdies on eight of his next 12 holes to move three shots clear of compatriot Brett Wetterich, Swede Fredrik Jacobson and Britain's Lee Westwood.

For Gogel the record round on the course that hosted the 1997 U.S. Open helped take some of the sting out of his failure to qualify for this year's second major set for next week in North Carolina at Pinehurst No. 2.

"I haven't had a great year really," admitted Gogel, whose lone PGA Tour win came in 2002 at Pebble Beach. "To be quite honest, my priority is playing well the next four or five events, which are some of my favorite events.

"I wanted to play in The Open, don't get me wrong.

"But for me right now it's important that I do well in the PGA Tour. If I would have qualified for the Open, I would have had to take one of those events off that I really enjoy playing, and that would have been tough to do."

Jacobson and Wetterich also produced tidy opening rounds of five-under 66, both mixing a single bogey with six birdies.

Westwood had a slightly more adventurous start with a pair of bogeys and seven birdies to also sit three shots back.

"You know, there's a good strength and depth on this tour," said Westwood. "There's a lot of players capable of shooting low scores. You know, and vice versa, some of the greatest players in the world, you have an off day, and this course will punish you and you won't score low.

"Generally you find after round four the guys that you think are going to be up there are up there, especially on a course like this because it is a true test."

Kevin Stadler was also on five-under through 14 holes when play was suddenly stopped late in the day because of dangerous conditions due to lightning.

With storms likely to continue, officials stopped play and will have 42 players complete first rounds early Friday morning with second round play to begin as scheduled.

Defending champion Adam Scott of Australia opened the defence of his title with a solid three-under 68 while most of the other top-ranked players struggled in the oppressive heat.

South African Retief Goosen, who will defend his U.S. Open title next week, had an uneven start, mixing five birdies with four bogeys to sit seven off the lead on one-under 70.

World number one Vijay Singh, who failed to make the cut last week at the Memorial, continued to search for his best form, settling for an even-par 71.

The hard-working had plenty of familiar company with world number four Phil Mickelson and number nine Padraig Harrington of Ireland also sitting eight shots off the pace.

Ernie Els, who has fond memories of the Congressional, the scene of his second U.S. Open victory in 1997, was two-under with one hole still to complete when play was called.

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