AT&T Champions Classic: First-Round Notebook

By Dave Senko
PGA TOUR Staff

VALENCIA, Calif. -- Loren Roberts set a new Champions Tour record in the first round of the AT&T Champions Classic on Friday by posting his 33rd consecutive round par/better, breaking Larry Nelson's record of 32. Nelson set the mark in 2000.
Loren Roberts
Loren Roberts has been the picture of consistency in recent months. (Steve Grayson/WireImage)

• Roberts shot a 5-under-par 67. During his current streak, Roberts has posted 23 rounds in the 60s and is a combined 110 strokes under par. Roberts started his streak at the 2006 Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach last September.

• Hale Irwin's 8-under-par 64 was the lowest first-round score since the event moved to the Valencia CC in 2001. The previous low was 65 by Jose Maria Canizares and Bob Charles in 2001 and later matched by Gil Morgan in 2003. Irwin's 64 also matched the tournament course record set by Larry Nelson (second round) in 2001 and later tied by Walter Morgan (final round/2001), Joe Inman (final round/2004) and Tom Kite (second round/2006).

• Bruce Summerhays extended his streak of events played for which he's been eligible to 155 straight when he played on Friday. Summerhays' streak is currently the longest on the Champions Tour. Dana Quigley holds the all-time record for consecutive eligible events played with 278 straight. Mike McCullough's 177 consecutive eligible events played ranks second.
AT&T CHAMPIONS CLASSIC
RECORD LOW ROUNDS
Player Score Round/Year
Hale Irwin 64 1st/2007
Tom Kite 64 2nd/2006
Joe Inman 64 3rd/2004
Walter Morgan 64 3rd/2001
Larry Nelson 64 2nd/2001
• Complete Leaderboard

• Jay Haas, Fuzzy Zoeller, Tom Jenkins, Morris Hatalsky and Ed Dougherty all posted bogey-free rounds on Friday. Going back to last week's tournament (Toshiba Classic) where he was a record-setting winner, Haas has made just one bogey in his last 72 holes (No. 8/final round) and just two in his last 87 holes going back to the ACE Group Classic.

• Peter Jacobsen (back), Scott Hoch (hand) and R.W. Eaks (back) all withdrew during Friday's round due to injuries.

• Los Angeles native John Jacobs continued his strong play. He finished T9 last week (his first top-10 since 2005) and shot a 5-under-par 67 on Friday, and is currently T5. Jacobs shared the distinction of the fewest putts in Friday's round (24) with David Edwards and Joe Ozaki.

• Defending champion Tom Kite shot a 3-under-par 69 and is currently T11.

• Friday's scoring average of 71.227 was the lowest scoring average for a round since the tournament moved here in 2001. The previous low was 72.078 in 2004 (second round). It was also more than two strokes lower than the opening round in 2006 (73.615).

• A total of 23 players in the 75-man field finished with rounds in the 60s and 46 posted sub-par rounds. Last year only 23 players finished with rounds under par in the first round and eight had rounds in the 60s. However, weather conditions were much different on Friday with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 90s. A year ago, the highs were only in the upper 40s on Friday.

• Tom Jenkins and Tom McKnight both hit all 14 fairways on Friday to lead in that category, while Fuzzy Zoeller led all players in Greens in Regulation at 88.89% (16 of 18).

• Dale Douglass bettered his age (71) for the fifth time in his career when he shot a 2-under-par 70 on Friday. The last time he accomplished the feat was in 2005, when he shot a 66 in the second round of the 2005 Commerce Bank Championship at age 69.

• Eduardo Romero has now recorded seven straight rounds in the 60s, the best current streak on the Champions Tour. It also matched Loren Roberts' string earlier this year. Tom Purtzer had the day's long drive of 341 yards on No. 10.

• David Edwards had just 12 one-putts on Friday. Scott Simpson has now gone 134 holes without a 3-putt.

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