Bradley Hughes
and Peter Jacobsen each shot 5-under-par 67s today to tie for the first-round
lead in the B.C. Open.
Rain forced postponement of the round on Thursday after about two hours and play
resumed at 8 a.m. Friday. By afternoon the golfers were playing under blue skies
and puffy white clouds, and Hurricane Floyd seemed like just a bad dream.
Despite conditions that were soggy in places and a steady wind that often gusted
to 30 mph, Hughes and Jacobsen gained a one-stroke lead over Phil Mickelson, Chip
Beck, Bobby Wadkins and Stephen Ames, whose bogey on No. 18 cost him a share of
the lead. Mike Weir and Brad Faxon led a group of six another shot back.
Mickelson, who was 1-under
starting play at No. 6, gained the early lead with four birdies on his first seven
holes. He dropped into a tie for second when his drive on No. 18 found water and
he finished with a bogey.
"I
obviously feel a little rusty," said Mickelson, coming off a two-week layoff with
a week to go before he plays in the Ryder Cup. "But it's not too difficult to
pick up my rhythm and timing. The key is in and around the greens, and I think
I did pretty well."
So, too, did Hughes, who was playing the B.C. Open for the fourth time. He said
the narrow, tree-lined En-Joie Golf Club course reminded him of the one he played
growing up in Melbourne, Australia.
"The
other years I was just plodding along," said Hughes, whose 25-foot putt on the
par-4 11th capped a three-birdie string that shot him into a share of the lead.
"It's nice to get out to a good first round because that's been one of my bad
themes this year. It's nice to be playing well, and not having to play twice today
will be good."
The
second group didn't have that luxury. It began the second round immediately after
finishing the first at around 4 p.m.
Tom Lehman and Steve Pate, also members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, did not fare
well in the only round they played. A double bogey on the par-4 15th dropped Pate
to a 1-over 73. Lehman skied to a 75 with two bogeys and a double bogey to go
with only one birdie. They and Mickelson are using the tournament as a tuneup
for the Ryder Cup, which begins Friday in Brookline, Mass.
"I
had a real rough day," said Lehman, who remained confident that his game would
improve. "But my goal is to get better day by day and be playing well on Sunday.
This course is narrow, so I think it's a good tuneup."
Although Hurricane Floyd soaked the course Wednesday night and all day Thursday
with 4 inches of rain, conditions were amazingly good on Friday. And with sunny
skies forecast for the weekend, officials still hoped to squeeze in the full four
rounds by sundown Sunday.
The format Friday was to continue through the weekend, which meant that the third
round would be completed Sunday morning and the final round would begin at noon.
The scenario seemed to
confound Jacobsen, who was runnerup here last year to Chris Perry.
"Personally, I don't quite
understand why we're doing this," said Jacobsen, who started the day on No. 11
and quickly bogeyed Nos. 13 and 14 before recovering. "In my mind, we washed one
day out, so we should do a three-round tournament, which would give us a chance
to have a leader each evening.
"But
now we're going to have some guys play 27 or 31 (holes today), so you're never
going to know who's leading the tournament until Sunday. It's confusing."
