Rookie Killeen leads Owen by one at Livermore Valley

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LIVERMORE, Calif. -- J.J. Killeen figures he just needed a little bit of time to get adjusted to playing his rookie season on the Nationwide Tour.

J.J. Killeen carded eight birdies before his only bogey. (Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

Inside the Numbers

Killeen thru 18 Holes

Category Total Rank Eagles 0 N/A Birdies 8 1 Pars 9 T118 Bogeys 1 T120 Double Bogeys 0 N/A Other 0 N/A Driving Accuracy 78.6% T10 Driving Distance 294.0 yds. T102 Greens in Regulation 66.7% T41 Putts per Round 24.0 T2 Putts per GIR 1.500 T1 Sand Saves 50.0% T20

Killeen, who had never teed it up in a Tour event prior to this year, grabbed the opening-round lead at the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship with a 7-under-par 65 Thursday at The Course at Wente Vineyards.

Killeen's effort in his sixth Tour start tied the course record and is one stroke better than England's Greg Owen (66) and two ahead of Monday qualifier James Love (67). Fran Quinn posted a 68 and is in fourth place.

Joe Daley, Bill Lunde and Chris Tidland each shot 69 and were the only other players in the field of 144 to break 70 on the Tour's most difficult golf course.

Killeen was error-free and 8 under through 17 holes before his second shot on the final hole found a greenside bunker. A missed 8-foot putt for par resulted in Killeen's only bogey of the day, but still left him on top by one stroke in the $600,000 event, the sixth on the 2008 schedule.

"I kept it in play and that's important on this course," said Killeen, whose best round this year had been a 4-under 68 in the season-opening Panama Movistar Championship. "I was really relaxed out there. I haven't been playing bad this year, it's just a matter of getting used to everything. It's a matter of getting comfortable, that's all."

Killeen, a San Diego native who moved to Texas when he was 16, canned a 20-foot birdie putt on the first hole and later rolled in birdie putts of 40 and 30 feet during the round of 65.

"I missed a couple of greens but it wasn't by much so I never really had to bear down on a lot of tough par putts," said the 26-year old Texas Christian University grad who had missed three straight cuts prior to this week. "I knew this course was hard but I tried to keep it in play off the tee and I hit my irons great.

The final result matched Jason Dufner's 2006 course record on a day when the par-72 layout played to a scoring average more than two full strokes above-par (74.322).

Owen, a 36-year old veteran, tied for 10th at last week's Chitimacha Louisiana Open, his first career start on the Nationwide Tour. Owen played the PGA TOUR full time the past three years but finished No. 157 on the money list last year and lost his card.

"I don't know what happened last year. I actually felt like I played all right, I just didn't score well," said Owen. "For some strange reason I just couldn't get it done. It did me some good in the end because it made me realize you've got to work harder. You can't just cruise along."

Following the birth of his second child in January, Owen chose to stay in Florida and practice, instead of following the Tour to Panama, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia to begin the year.

"I'm enjoying playing again. It's been a while," said Owen, who is probably best remembered for a painful runner-up finish at the 2006 Bay Hill Invitational, where he closed double bogey-bogey to lose by one stroke to Australia's Rod Pampling.

"Last year I didn't have rounds like I did today and you need them out there. You need to be holing putts and need to be competing. Otherwise, you get left behind," he said. "At the end of the day, this is a golf tournament and if you play well you will get back to where you should be.

It's just an eye-opener for me, but I want to be back on the PGA TOUR."

First-Round News & Notes: Aron Price (70) was the only player without a bogey during the opening round. ... Kris Cox opened the tournament by hitting three straight tee shots out of bounds. The Oklahoma State product made an 11 on the par-4 hole. He played the next 17 holes in 1 over par and shot an opening 80. ... Franklin Langham (83) withdrew after the opening round.