3M Championship 2006

Bean's new putting stroke helped him birdie three of the final four holes Friday for a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead over six players after the first round of the Champions Tour's 3M Championship.

For putts under 15 feet, Bean has switched to what he calls a "modified claw," where he turns his bottom hand and positions the putter between his middle fingers.

"I played very solid today," Bean said. "Ever since I changed my grip on the short putts to the modified claw, I don't have as much tension. I'm able to keep the speed at a more consistent pace. I'm committed to using it. I hit every putt solid now."

Bean, winless in four seasons on the 50-and-over tour, had six birdies and a bogey on the TPC Twin Cities course. The 11-time PGA Tour winner has had three top-seven finishes this season, including a tie for fifth in July in the U.S. Senior Open.

Injuries and family time limited Bean's competitive golf during the 1990s.

"I took 10 years off as I watched my daughters grow up," Bean said. "When I came back out, the ball striking was there but the putting wasn't. I wish I would have switched the putting grip when I started out."

Loren Roberts, the tour money leader coming off a victory last week in the Senior British Open, was a stroke back along with defending champion Tom Purtzer, J.C. Snead, Curtis Strange and Keith Fergus.

Purtzer had a course-record 63 in his opening round last year en route to a one-stroke victory. On Friday, he birdied the first three holes and had just one bogey.

"I birdied the first three holes and I thought, 'Here we go,"' Purtzer said. "This is a good driving course, and that suits my game. I feel good as soon as I pull into the parking lot here."

Roberts had a triple-bogey 7 on the ninth hole that left him at even par, but rebounded with birdies on four of his final seven holes.

"I looked like I was about ready to fold my tent after hole nine," Roberts said, "but I stayed patient and played well on the back nine."

Roberts has a tour-high four victories this season and has won five of the 20 tournaments he's played since joining the Champions Tour in July 2005. He won the first three tournaments of the year and won a playoff Sunday at Turnberry.

Hale Irwin was two strokes back at 69 along with Brad Bryant, Bruce Lietzke, Andy North, David Edwards, James Mason and Tom McKnight. The 61-year-old Irwin won the 2002 event on the TPC course and took the 1997 and 1999 titles at Bunker Hills.