ACE Group Classic: First-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff NAPLES, Fla. -- With two eagles in the first round of the ACE Group Classic on Friday, Bobby Wadkins became the second player this year to card two eagles in a round (Tom Kite/MasterCard Championship at Hualalai) on the Champions Tour. Wadkins' 8-under 64 was his best score since a second-round 64 last August in the Boeing Greater Seattle Classic. • This marks the first time Wadkins has been in the lead after the first round since he was tied for the top spot after Round 1 of last year's JELD-WEN Tradition. He eventually placed third in that event. Wadkins finished T10 in Naples in 2004. His previous-best score at this event was a 68 (three times).  Defending champ Loren Roberts stretched his streak of rounds at par or better. (Kevin C. Cox/WireImage)
• Defending champion Loren Roberts carded a 4-under 68 today and now has 27 straight par/better rounds. His streak of under-par rounds ended at 24 after a second-round even-par 71 at last week's Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. Roberts' par/better streak dates back to an opening-round 67 at the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach last fall. • After shooting 82 in the final round of last week's Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am, Mark O'Meara improved by 17 strokes with a 7-under 65 Friday. O'Meara finished T38 in his debut on the Champions Tour last week in Tampa. • Allen Doyle's 7-under 65 was his best in Naples since posting an opening-round 8-under 64 at The Club at TwinEagles in 1999. Doyle went on to win the ACE Group Classic that year, becoming the first player to claim both a Nationwide Tour title and Champions Tour victory. • Two-time ACE Group Classic champion Gil Morgan carded a 7-under 65, his lowest round ever in Naples. Morgan's previous-bests were 6-under 66s in the opening round of the 2004 event and a closing-round 66 in 2001. Morgan has now carded a sub-par first round in Naples in nine consecutive years. • Allen Doyle, Gil Morgan, Wayne Levi, John Bland, Walter Hall, Loren Roberts, Mark James, Jay Haas, David Edwards, Scott Simpson and Bruce Summerhays all posted bogey-free rounds. • Jay Haas missed only one green in regulation on Friday. Bruce Fleisher and Isao Aoki hit 13 of 14 fairways, while D.A. Weibring had 12 one-putts. • New host venue Quail West played easier in Round 1 than the Club at TwinEagles played on Friday last year. There were 31 scores in the 60s Friday compared with 24 sub-70 rounds on Friday last year. • The field scoring average Friday was 70.747 compared to 71.269 last year. The most difficult hole was the par-4 8th, with an average score of 4.253. The hole yielded just five birdies (Romero, Morgan, Smyth, Sigel, McCullough). The par-5 18th hole played as the easiest at 4.544, yielding two eagles and 34 birdies. • Woody Blackburn, a two-time winner on the PGA TOUR, made his second career appearance on the Champions Tour this week after open qualifying with a 71 on Monday. Blackburn's round of 77 included the longest measured putt made, 49,'6" birdie putt at No. 11. Blackburn's only other appearance on the Champions Tour was a T72 at the 2003 Columbus Southern Open. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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