Round 1 Notebook: Bank of America Championship Tom Watson's 7-under-par 65 earned him sole possession of first place, marking the first time he had been in that position since the 2005 MasterCard Championship in Hawaii when he opened with an 8-under-par 64 and held a two-stroke margin over Wayne Levi. He eventually finished second, losing in a playoff to Dana Quigley. Watson, Tom Purtzer, Jay Sigel, Joe Ozaki and Keith Fergus all played bogey-free rounds on Friday. ![]() Thompson Sixty-year-old Leonard Thompson made the Champions Tour's first double eagle since the 2005 season when he made one at No. 18 on Friday (he started his round at No. 10). Thompson used a 3-wood from 250 yards for his double eagle. The last player to post one was Howard Twitty in the final round of the 2005 JELD-WEN Tradition. It was Thompson's third career double eagle, but his first in competition. Tom Purtzer continues to play well at this event. His 6-under-par 66 on Friday left him just one stroke shy of first-round leader Tom Watson and it was also his eight straight sub-par rounds. In three starts in this event, Purtzer has finished T4 and T2 twice. Purtzer also hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation on Friday to lead all players in that category. Hale Irwin's streak of consecutive holes without a three putt ended at 185 when he three-putted No. 6 on Friday. His streak was the longest current streak on the Champions Tour in that category. With his streak now ending, Tom Purtzer takes over the lead in that category at 148 holes. Friday's scoring average of 71.846 was nearly identical to the first-round scoring average in 2005 when the field averaged 71.756. A total of 13 players had rounds in the 60s and 41 of 78 players in the field bettered par. The most difficult hole was No. 13 with an average of 3.269 and only five players made birdies. Hole No. 18 was the easiest at 4.692 (-.308). In addition to Leonard Thompson's double eagle, there were 27 birdies. ![]() Summerhays Bruce Summerhays extended his string of events played for which he's been eligible to 163 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. The GOLF CHANNEL'S Big Break VI winner, Denny Hepler, who is playing on a sponsor's exemption in the event, opened with a 4-under-par 68 and is among seven players tied for fourth. Craig Stadler and Lonnie Nielsen each had drives of 332 yards to lead all players in that category. Stadler's came on No. 15 and Nielsen's came on No. 18. Mark McNulty, the 2005 champion, shot a 1-under-par 71 and is T24. John Harris led all players with eight birdies, but he also had four bogeys, resulting in a 4-under-par 68. The total time of the two weather delays on Friday was 3 hours and 13 minutes. |