Ginn Championship: First-Round Notebook

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PALM COAST, Fla. -- First-round leader Lonnie Nielsen's Friday 6-under-par 66 matched his low round of the season. He had also posted 66 in the final round in his previous two starts.

Bernhard Langer carded four birdies and an eagle in his opening round. (Miller/WireImage)

Inside the Numbers

18-Hole Leaderboard

Player Score 1. Lonnie Nielsen 66 -6 T2. Bernhard Langer 67 -5 T2. Fred Funk 67 -5 T4. David Edwards 68 -4 T4. Gene E. Jones 68 -4 T6. Tim Simpson 69 -3 T6. Craig Stadler 69 -3

• Friday also marked the first time Nielsen held sole possession of the first-round lead since he opened with a 6-under-par 66 at the 2005 Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

• Nielsen's 6-under-par 66 was his 10th consecutive round par/better. Of his 16 rounds in 2008, 15 of those have been par/better.

• Loren Roberts opened with a 1-under-par 71 on Friday, giving him 19 consecutive rounds par/better, the longest current streak on the Champions Tour.

• Jay Haas' streak of consecutive sub-par round ended at 12 straight when he shot a 3-over-par 75 on Friday. That was the best streak in that category this year on the Champions Tour.

• Scott Simpson's streak of consecutive holes without a 3-putt ended at 211 when he three-putted his opening hole. His streak had been the best on the Champions Tour in 2008. Loren Roberts started the day with a streak of 191 consecutive and increased that to 193 before a three-putt at No. 3. David Edwards now leads in the category at 146.

• The field averaged 73.692 on Friday, the highest opening-round average so far in 2008 on the Champions Tour. Last year the field averaged 72.833.

• Lonnie Nielsen had the fewest putts on Friday (23), while Tom Watson led all players in greens in regulation (15 of 18/83.3%). Nielsen also led in driving accuracy, hitting 13 of 14 fairways and had the most birdies (eight).

• Bob Gilder made his 100th consecutive start on the Champions Tour on Friday. The last time he missed an event came at the 2004 Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn. Dana Quigley holds the all-time record for consecutive events played with 264.

• The most difficult hole was No. 13 with an average score of 4.385 (+.385), while No. 12 was the second most difficult with an average score of 3.333 (+.333). In addition, Nos. 16 and 15 ranked third and fifth, respectively, in difficulty. The easiest hole was No. 14 at 4.590 (-.410).

• Sam Torrance withdrew after playing just one hole on Friday due to a hand injury. Ian Woosnam made his Champions Tour debut on Friday and shot a 6-over-par 78.

• Defending champion Keith Fergus opened with a 2-under-par 70 and is tied for eighth. Monday qualifier Gene Jones shot a 4-under-par 68 and is currently tied for fourth.