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Posted 7-4-08
Marino's
65 leads AT&T National
Bethesda, MD (Sports Network) - Playing for the first time with a new
set of irons and wedges, Steve Marino fired a flawless five-under 65 on
Thursday to take the lead at the AT&T National.
Marino led Jeff Overton,
Frank Lickliter II, Rod Pampling and Bob Estes by a shot after a warm,
sunny first round at Congressional.
Tiger Woods' event
got started without the injured host, who opted not to fly to the Washington,
D.C., area while he recovers from surgery to repair the torn ligament
in his left knee.
The tournament was
also missing most of the stable of top stars who showed up for the inaugural
AT&T National last year. Players like Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh
and Adam Scott were no-shows this week, while others like Sergio Garcia
were in England for a European Tour event.
Which left the leaderboard
littered with players itching to take advantage of an easier field, not
that everyone believed there was that much of a difference.
"On the PGA Tour,
all of the players are very good," said defending champion K.J. Choi,
who opened with a two-under 68. "Every week is tough."
Choi (No. 10) and
Steve Stricker (No. 7) are the only players ranked inside the world top-10
in the field this week. Stricker opened with a one-over 71, while No.
13 Jim Furyk had a 70.
Alex Cejka, Notah
Begay III, Billy Mayfair, Anthony Kim, Stuart Appleby, Tommy Armour III
and Fredrik Jacobson were tied for sixth place at three-under 67, and
there were 53 players overall who were separated by just five shots at
the top of the leaderboard.
Marino, winless in
his first two seasons on the PGA Tour, started his bogey- free round Thursday
with birdies on three of his first four holes. He ended the run with back-to-back
birdies, knocking his approach to tap-in range at No. 3 and holing a snaking
putt at No. 4.
He settled into a
groove after that, posting eight consecutive pars until making a birdie
at the par-three 13th. He ended the round with an eight-foot birdie putt
at the 18th hole to take the lead.
Marino said he put
a new set of irons and wedges in his bag on Tuesday, tired of the way
he was hitting the ball with his old clubs.
"This was the
first round of golf that I had played with them," Marino said, "and
I think they are going to stay."
The University of
Virginia alum held his first 18-hole lead on the PGA Tour, but was quick
to remind everyone that there was still 54 holes of golf left and every
chance that he wouldn't be the leader at the end.
"How many times
do you see the guy that's leading the first round [win]?" said Marino.
"I would say probably the majority of the time, they don't go onto
win the tournament."
Congressional is scheduled
to host the U.S. Open in 2011, and so the course is still three years
away from the type of penal rough the USGA grows for that major. Not that
is was a walk in the park on Thursday.
"You have to
play a lot of good golf shots out here to score," said Pampling.
But numbers were generally
good on Thursday, and if forecasted storms materialize, the course could
slow down and produce even lower scores by the weekend.
Appleby couldn't say
what the winning number would be.
"It would be
Mother Nature's call on that one," the Australian said. "If
it stays dry, you won't see under-par scores as easy. And if it gets dry
and a little faster on the greens, that will be tough. Last year the greens
were not very smooth, so I think that was a bit of a factor. But this
year, the course is just magnificent."
The PGA Tour also
began its drug testing program this week, though it will not say which
players were tested. The program was put in place at the end of last season.
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