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By John Bush
PGA TOUR Staff

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Roland Thatcher, James Driscoll and Richard Swift shot matching 6-under 65s to share the lead after Day One at the Legend Financial Group Classic presented by Cynergies Solutions.

Co-leader James Driscoll has four top-20 finishes in his last five starts. (Michael Cohen/WireImage)

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD

Player Score T1. James Driscoll 65 -6 T1. Richard Swift 65 -6 T1. Roland Thatcher 65 -5 T4. Willie Wood 66 -5 T4. Kyle Thompson 66 -5 T4. David McKenzie 66 -5 T4. Matt Hansen 66 -5 T4. Kenneth Staton 66 -5 T4. Scott Gardiner 66 -5

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The three leaders are one shot in front of Willie Wood, Kyle Thompson, David McKenzie, Matt Hansen, Kenneth Staton and Scott Gardiner. The top spot on a Nationwide Tour leaderboard was familiar territory for Thatcher, who is fresh off of last week's victory at the Peek'n Peak Classic.

"I played a really good round of golf today," said Thatcher, who sits in the fourth spot on the Tour's money list. "The wind came up (this afternoon) and scores were going to be tough to come by. So to finish up with a 6-under 65 is a good start to the week."

While Thatcher has been impressive starting tournaments, he is quickly becoming the Tour's best finisher. No player enters the second half of the season on a hotter streak that the former Auburn University standout. In addition to three consecutive top-10 finishes, Thatcher has posted top-25 finishes in nine of his last 10 tournaments. Even more impressive, he has finished inside the top 25 in all 10 of his made cuts (14 starts).

"It is going well right now, there is no doubt about that," said Thatcher, who has par-or-better scores in 34 of his last 37 rounds. "I'm making the ones I should make, so I'm getting those birdies instead of having to save pars."

Unlike Thatcher, Driscoll entered the week with few expectations at the par-71 StoneWater Golf Club. Known more for his length off the tee than his accuracy, Driscoll ranks a stellar 18th on Tour in driving distance with a 303.6-yard average, but just 153rd in driving accuracy percentage with just over 53 percent of fairways hit in regulation. He was true to form during the first round, finding just six of 14 fairways.

"I looked at last year's results and a lot of the straight hitters played well here," said Driscoll, the runner-up to Jeff Quinney at the 2000 U.S. Amateur Championship. "So I knew it could be a challenge for me. I like everything here except you can't hit a lot of drivers. It kind of neutralizes the field. It is definitely not a bomber's paradise."

Despite his inaccuracies off the tee, Driscoll more than made up for it with his iron play. With the exception of a 40-foot bomb for birdie on No. 15, none of his remaining six birdies were in excess of eight feet.

"My iron play was really solid today but I drove it all over the place," said Driscoll, who hit 16 of 18 greens. "But the crazy thing is I'll go after a round like this and hit it great on the practice tee. But I'm not wasting a lot of shots right now (and that has been the key). I'm finally making some putts and playing some clean rounds."

All three leaders started the season in less-than-stellar fashion, but Thatcher has rebounded from missing the cut in three of his first four starts and Driscoll has followed up four missed cuts in six starts at the beginning of the year with four top-20 finishes in his last five starts. Swift, on the other hand, is still searching for an identity during his rookie season. His only made cut in 11 previous starts was a tie for 30th place at the BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs.

"I said to myself at the beginning of the week that I was going to make it two seasons," said Swift, a 29-year-old native of Sydney, Australia. "The first one is over, thankfully. The new season starts in July. So far this season, when I've been hitting the ball well my putting has been bad ... and tournaments where my putting was good my ball-striking has been off. I've got to put both of them together during the same week."

Both were clicking on Thursday, as 10 fairways and 15 greens hit in regulation led to him bettering his previous low round on the Nationwide Tour by two strokes. Three of Swift's seven birdies came right out of the gate on Nos. 10, 11 and 12, thanks to holed putts from 10, 15 and 20 feet, respectively.

"I made some great putts on the first three holes," said Swift. "I thought, 'This is unbelievable. Where has this been all year?'"

First-Round News & Notes: Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey, the winner of GOLF Channel's Big Break VII, opened with a 2-under-par 69. ... Amateur participant Jason Kokrak, the winner of the 2006 Ohio Amateur Championship and a two-time High School State Champion, opened with a 2-over 73. ... 2005 Legend Financial Group Classic winner Andrew Johnson began the week with a 1-under 70. ... Martin Laird and Kyle Thompson are the only first-round leaders this season to go on to victory. ... Speaking of Thompson, he capped off a birdie-bride-eagle finish by holing a 141-yard pitching wedge on the par-4 ninth hole, stating "That's the first time I've ever done that in my life." ... There were six bogey-free rounds on Thursday: Martin Laird (67), Joe Daley (67), Erik Compton (67), Garth Mulroy (68), Deane Pappas (68) and Todd Fischer (69). ... The first-round scoring average was 71.250.