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By Joe Chemycz
PGA TOUR Media Official

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Rookie Brandt Snedeker tied several PGA TOUR, Buick Invitational and personal records with his 9-under-par 27 on his opening nine holes and his 11-under-par 61 on Thursday.

Snedeker, a two-time winner on the 2006 Nationwide Tour, is making his 14th career start on the PGA TOUR. He finished No. 9 on the Nationwide Tour money list last year despite missing five weeks in the middle of the summer with a broken right collarbone.

Snedeker started on the back nine of the North Course and had six birdies and an eagle on his first seven holes. After a par-3 at the 17th, he birdied the par-5 18th to make the turn at minus-9. He added a birdie on the par-5 first hole before settling in with seven pars in a row before a birdie on the final hole for a score of 61. Snedeker hit 4 of 14 fairways, 17 of 18 greens and had 27 putts.

Among the records he set/tied with his score today:

--tied PGA TOUR record for most strokes under-par for nine holes, at 9 (Billy Mayfair, 2001 Buick Open, Warwick Hills CC, final round and Robert Gamez, 2004 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Indian Wells CC), third round)

--set Buick Invitational tournament record for 9-hole score, with a 27 (28, Jeff Julian, 1996, North Course, back nine)

--tied Buick Invitational tournament record for 18-hole score, with a 61 (61, Mark Brooks, 1990, North Course, second round)

--set Buick Invitational tournament record for best first-round 18-hole score, at 61 (62, Gene Littler, 1965 Stardust Country Club and Davis Love III, 1998, North Course)

--set a career-low for his PGA TOUR career, at 61 (66, 2004 EDS Byron Nelson Championship, round 2)

--set career-low round on any tour, at 61 (62, 2006 Chattanooga Classic/Nationwide Tour, 10-under, round 1)

• Charlie Wi shot a 9-under-par 63 on the North Course and is in second place, two shots back of Brandt Snedeker. Wi, a native of South Korea who grew up in Westlake Village, Calif., and is a graduate of California-Berkeley, was teeing it up on the North Course for only the second time in his life. The first time he played the course was in the 2005 Buick Invitational, when he shot a 2-under-par 70 in the second round.

• John Senden is tied for third place after the first day with an 8-under-par 64. Senden played with last week's runner-up John Rollins (69) and two-time defending champion Tiger Woods (66). This was the first time in his career that Senden was paired with Woods.

• Rookie Jeff Quinney, fresh off a T4 at last week's Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, eagled the final hole on the North Course for an 8-under 64.

• 2002 Buick Invitational champion Jose Maria Olazabal posed a 7-under-par 65 on the North Course for the second-lowest score in his Buick Invitational career. Olazabal shot a 64 in the second round last year, when he tied for second.

• Two-time defending champion Tiger Woods posted a 6-under 66 Thursday to match his lowest opening round in nine previous Buick Invitational starts. Woods also shot a 66 in the first round in 2002 (T5). His second-round 77 on the South Course that year remains as the only above-par round he has registered in 36 career tournament rounds (includes today). In Woods' four Buick Invitational victories, his opening scores have been 68 (1999), 70 (2003), 69 (2005) and 71 (2006).

• Parker McLachlin had an ace on the 198-yard, par-3 third hole on the South Course. McLachlin used a 6-iron. He finished with a 1-under-par 71.

• Rookie Johnson Wagner closed his round on the North Course with five consecutive birdies for a 7-under 65. Craig Kanada also birdied the final five holes on the North Course back nine (his opening nine). And J. B. Holmes had five consecutive birdies, starting at No. 16 on the North Course (16-17-18-1-2).

• Camilo Villegas posted the best round of the day on the South Course, a 5-under-par 67 that included birdies on his final two holes. Villegas missed the cut here last year in his rookie season on TOUR.

• A total of 15 players were bogey-free during the first round, and all played the North Course. They were: Brandt Snedeker, 62; John Senden, 64; Jose Maria Olazabal, 65; Cliff Kresge, 65; Stephen Marino, 65; Gavin Coles, 65; Robert Garrigus, 65; Billy Andrade, 67; Duffy Waldorf, 67; Brett Quigley, 67; Craig Lile, 68; Jonathan Byrd, 68; Jason Dufner, 68; Bill Haas, 69; and Mark Hensby, 70

• Two players had two eagles, and both came on the same holes on the same course. Both Tiger Woods and Michael Allen eagled the ninth and 18th holes on the North Course

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