David
Duval and teammate Fred Couples combined for an 11-under 61 to take the opening
day's lead in the alternate shot format during the Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout.
"It was a pretty easy 11-under
par," Couples said. "I didn't feel that great with the putter. David just made
all the putts. We didn't do anything crazy. We just played well together."
The teams of Andrew
Magee and Jay Haas, Scott McCarron and Scott Hoch, and John Cook and Peter Jacobsen
fired 66s for a second-place tie, five shots behind the leaders at Sherwood Country
Club.
Brad Faxon
and Jeff Sluman shot 67 to hold 5th place.
Defending champions Greg Norman and Steve Elkington fired a 69 and that left them
in sixth place, eight shots from the lead in the 12-team event.
Norman hosts the Shark Shootout, which is making its final appearance at Sherwood
CC. The Shootout will move to Doral, Fla., next year after an 11-year run in Thousand
Oaks.
Steve Pate
and Corey Pavin shot a 71. Olin Browne and Carlos Franco's even-par 72 left them
in 10th place.
Craig
Stadler and Tom Kite carded three bogeys en route to a 2-over 74.
Ryder Cup captain Ben Crenshaw and partner Bruce Lietzke managed only two birdies
while carding five bogeys to shoot a 75, which was 14 shots off the lead and in
last place over the 7,025-yard course.
Couples and Raymond Floyd established the tournament record with their 15-under
par 57 in the alternate shot format in 1990.
"Raymond
and I were knocking it in from everywhere that day," Couples said. "It was an
unbelievable round."
Duval, second on the PGA tour's official money list with $3,641,906, is gunning
for the first prize of $350,000 ($175,000 each) from the $1.5 Million purse.
"It's easy when both players
play well," Duval said.
Their 5-shot lead was the largest ever after the opening round in the Shark Shootout.
Duval was looking forward to Saturday's best ball round.
"We
got off to a good start," he said. "But we didn't win the golf tournament with
this round. I think tomorrow's round is the most important."
Hoch and McCarron birdied four of the first seven holes on the back nine to stay
within striking distance of the lead.
"We're
just giving them (Duval and Couples) a false sense of security," Hoch joked. "The
next two days will really play to our strengths. When Scott started driving well
today, it made it a lot easier.
"Now
I know why Tiger (Woods) is winning everything. He drives it long and straight,"
Hoch said, with the emphasis on the "and."
Haas sank a 40-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole after Magee's 7-iron left Haas
just off the green.
The tournament uses a different format for each round of the three-day event.
Friday's round was the modified alternate shot, where both teammates hit a tee
shot, the partners select the better drive of the two, then alternate shots until
finishing the hole.
