Ben Curtis takes opening honours with 62

Take, for instance, the leaderboard at the end of the first round Thursday. It was topped by five players who have combined for exactly zero victories since 2003. Without Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson or Ernie Els giving chase, all five can envision a plausible scenario that keeps them in contention all the way to Sunday.

"Obviously, it helps that they're not here," said Ben Curtis, who led with a 9-under 62. "If Phil, Tiger, Ernie are here, they are going to be at the top of the leaderboard by the end of the week."

Curtis and Jeff Gove (63) both shot their career-best rounds in impeccable conditions on the TPC at Avenel. Jose Coceres was two shots off the lead, with Steve Flesch and Will MacKenzie trailing by three.

"This is what you dream of, and this is what you play and practice for, to get to that feeling," said Curtis, who had nine birdies in his bogey-free round and hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation. "You don't get it very often, so when you feel comfortable out there, you just want to take advantage of it, and that's what I did."

The Booz Allen has a lame-duck, anticlimactic feel this week, reflected in the tiny galleries that followed the leaders during the first round. The sport's biggest names are resting following the grueling U.S. Open last week at Winged Foot, and the PGA Tour plans to move this tournament to a less enticing spot on the fall portion of the calendar next year.

Defending champion Sergio Garcia isn't playing because of a back injury, leaving No. 23 Padraig Harrington as the top player in the world rankings. He trailed by eight after shooting a 70 Thursday.

Thus the door is open for players such as Curtis, who has been searching for an elusive second victory since his stunning British Open win as a rookie in 2003. He now says that he didn't handle the sudden success well, that he was tired and busy in the aftermath and unable to focus properly on golf.

"The more I look back on it, maybe I could have done a few things differently," Curtis said. "I think there's a few tournaments where I wasn't ready to play, and I just let a few bad habits get into my golf game and my swing. ... You start going downhill, and it just kept going."

Gove, a three-time winner on the Nationwide Tour, made five straight PGA Tour cuts earlier this year and drove the ball exceptionally well Thursday. He didn't qualify for the U.S. Open, so he went home last week and was told by a friend -- former NHL player Adam Oates -- that he was restricting his hip too much on his swing.

With that glitch worked out, Gove smashed the ball off the tee and needed only wedges to make the green on some of Avenel's longest holes.

"It's amazing how when somebody tells you something in a different way, it clicks," Gove said.

Coceres has been splitting time between the U.S. and his native Argentina, and he is bothered that he has so far been unable to land a single sponsor exemption on the PGA Tour this year. This is just his fourth tournament of the season, and he got in only because so many players withdrew.

"Hopefully, if I win one, I'll get invited," said Coceres, whose only tour victories came in 2001.