Franklin Langham, a former All-American at Georgia having his best year on the PGA Tour, shot a 7-under-par 65 today to take the lead after the first round of the inaugural Reno-Tahoe Open.

Despite haze from a forest fire, Langham birdied six holes for a 30 on the front nine of the Montreux Golf & Country Club that winds through towering pines and mountain streams along the Sierra Nevada.

Strong putting, including a downhill 50-footer for birdie, helped Langham to a one-stroke lead over Ted Purdy and Cameron Beckman.

"I got it rolling early in the round and got some momentum," said Langham, 31, a third-year PGA player who ranks 87th on the money list with $336,673.

Langham is among several newcomers and veterans who are trying to claim their first PGA Tour victory at Reno-Tahoe, the first new stop added to the PGA Tour in four years. Many of the top players are at Akron, Ohio for the limited-field NEC Invitational.

"I'm just taking it one hole at a time," Langham said. "It may come this week. It may be five years from now. ... You shouldn't be out here if you don't want to win."

J.L. Lewis, one of seven 1999 tournament winners in this field, was two shots off the pace at 67. Jerry Kelly, who birdied the last three holes, and Tom Scherrer were also at 67.

John Cook, Billy Andrade and Chris Perry each shot 68. David Toms, who won the Sprint International last week, Stewart Cink and Woody Austin were among the few to tee off in the afternoon and score well, also shooting 68s. Bob Tway and Fred Funk had 69s and John Daly overcame a double bogey to finish with a 70. Tom Kite, Craig Stadler and Peter Jacobsen matched par 72.

Langham had four birdies in a row on the front nine, including putts of 20, 15 and 12 feet, in addition to the 50-foot bomb on the 220-yard, par-3 seventh.

"Sometimes when you're playing well, those go in," he said.

Those who fared best played the rugged, 7,500-yard mountain course in the morning under smoke from nearby forest fires. They avoided the stiff wind that picked up across the Sierra Nevada in the afternoon.

"I think I got done just in time because the wind started howling," Andrade said.

Langham and a number of other golfers said the smoke bothered their eyes. Purdy, 216th on the money list, said he got used to smoke when he played on the Asian tour in 1997.

"All of Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia was just a haze. They were slashing and burning. And I actually played pretty well there," Purdy said.

Purdy said he putted better Thursday after his friend Tiger Woods suggested he ditch his long putter and go back to a regular one.

"Tiger kind of gave me a pep talk," Purdy said.

Lewis, who won the John Deere Classic at 19-under in July, made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th. He got a birdie-4 on the 637-yard 17th, driving the ball 340 yards then hitting a 3-wood 300 yards to the front of the green.

Lewis hit into the greenside bunker at 18, then missed a 7-foot par putt.

"It was an OK day, nothing great. I didn't play as well as I thought I should have," said Lewis, who is 62nd on the money list with $524,654. "There are a lot of birdies out there to be had."

AP