Craig Barlow,
who grew up in the shadow of the Strip, shot a career-best 11-under-par 61 today
to take a two-shot lead over eight players in the first round of the five-day
Las Vegas Invitational.
"This
is the tournament I think about all year long," Barlow said. "Just to play here
is a dream come true. To have a chance to win would be unbelievable."
Playing late in the
day at the Las Vegas Country Club, Barlow started his round with an eagle and
added nine birdies. He could have shot a 60, but left a 15-footer for eagle short
on the final hole.
The 61 gave him a two-shot lead over Fred Couples and seven others, who all shot
63s on the three user-friendly courses used on the first three days of the tournament.
Also at 63 were
Billy Mayfair, Brian Henninger, Andrew Magee, Brian Watts, Joe Ogilvie, Jonathan
Kaye and Bob May.
"You
kind of know going into the week you've got to shoot some good scores here," Mayfair
said.
Only four
players in the field of 144 were over par, while 130 broke par under perfect weather
conditions that made for easy scoring.
But it was Barlow, a second year pro from the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, who
had the lowest score while playing on probably the easiest of the three courses
in the rotation.
"I'm
still a little shaky," Barlow said. "My legs were a little rubbery at the end."
Barlow, who faces
the dual pressure of playing before the hometown fans and trying to crack the
top 125 money winners to get his tour card for another year, sank a 15-footer
for eagle on his first hole, then followed it with two straight birdies.
He shot 31 on the back
side, his front, and then went on to make six birdies over the next nine holes.
"I seemed to get
the bounces you need to shoot low," Barlow said. "Today the difference was the
marginal shots turned out OK, and I took advantage of them."
Barlow is 130th on the PGA Tour money list with $285,217 in earnings coming off
a third-place performance three weeks ago at the Buick
Challenge.
"I'm
right on the bubble right now," Barlow said. "I don't want to protect anything.
When you do that, you start getting in trouble."
Mayfair, who shot his 63 at the TPC Summerlin course where the final two days
will be played, enjoyed a round made easier by a lack of rough and pin placements
in the center of the greens.
The conditions are always made easy at the tournament because of a pro-am format
that has three amateurs playing with each pro the first three days.
Mayfair, who finished second here in 1995 and 1997, predicted the winning score
this year would be the lowest yet. The record was set by Magee at 31-under in
1990.
"This will
probably be the lowest number ever to win here," he said.
Magee agreed that the scores would be low, and said he was briefly worried after
being even par after his first three holes.
"You
have to shoot a good score out here," Magee said. "You shoot 71, 72 here and you're
going to get passed by a lot of guys."
DIVOTS:
John Daly, whose penchant for gambling and drinking in Las Vegas is well documented,
shot a 67. .... Jonathan Kaye made a hole-in-one with a 5-iron on the 199-yard
par-3 17th at TPC Summerlin. It was his second hole-in-one on the tour in two
weeks, the last coming at the Westin Texas Open. ... Barlow is not the only Las
Vegas resident in contention. Bob May also lives here and considers Summerlin
his home course. .... The highest score was a 2-over by Willie Wood. ... The $2.5
million tournament pays $450,000 to the winner.
