RW Eaks takes opening day honours - ACE Group Classic 2006

The 53-year-old Eaks has recently made some changes in his game and in his life, in part because of high blood pressure, which he treats with medication.

He's not trying to hit it as long, not practicing as much, feeling more relaxed because he's finally exempt on the tour, and riding his motorcycle more.

"I hit (60) percent of my fairways last year," said Eaks, who has dropped his average driving distance from 297 yards to 258 to try to stay in the fairway more. "I think that was part of my problem. I took almost 2 1/2 months off this winter and thought about what I wanted to do, hit it long, or try to hit it in the fairway and try to make some money out here and maybe have a better chance of winning some tournaments."

Loren Roberts survived a bogey on No. 14 and birdied the last two holes to move into a tie for sixth, two shots behind Eaks.

Roberts won the first two events of the season, shattering the tour's 54-hole scoring record with a 25-under to win the MasterCard and making eagle on the final hole to win the Turtle Bay Championship in Hawaii last month.

"I birdied the last two to turn kind of a so-so round into a good round and get back up on the first page," Roberts said. "I'm very happy with the way that I finished the round off, especially after making a bogey kind of late. Two birdies at the last turned it into a good round."

Watson has finished second four times here, including losing twice in playoffs, and has a history of not winning a professional tour event in the Sunshine State.

"It was a good start for my quest to win the first time in Florida in 91 attempts," he said.

Pooley, who underwent a swing change 15 months ago with swing coach Jim Hardy, had two early bogeys before rallying for a 66. He's second to Roberts on the money list.

Eaks was tied for the first-round lead at The ACE last year, but finished tied for 16th after a pair of even-par 72s. It wasn't necessarily nerves from being tied for the lead; it was more who he was playing with.

"I got paired with (Hale) Irwin the second round," he said. "I've watched this guy win tournaments out here forever and I've watched him hit balls all of the time. He's a great guy and I love watching him play. I was a little intimidated. Maybe not so much this year."