JELD-WEN Tradition: First-round notebook

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SUNRIVER, Ore. -- A total of seven players (Gene Jones, Mark McNulty, Craig Stadler, Mark Wiebe, Tim Simpson, David Eger and Jay Haas) are tied for the opening-round lead at this year's JELD-WEN Tradition, equaling the most-ever after 18 holes in a Champions Tour event.

Craig Stadler walked off the 18th green with a share of the lead Thursday. (Badz/PGA TOUR)

Inside the Numbers

First-Round Leaderboard

Player Score T1. Gene Jones 67 -5 T1. Mark McNulty 67 -5 T1. Craig Stadler 67 -5 T1. Mark Wiebe 67 -5 T1. Tim Simpson 67 -5 T1. David Eger 67 -5 T1. Jay Haas 67 -5

• In 1989, seven players were tied for the first-round lead at the GTE North Classic in Indianapolis at Broadmoor Country Club. Coincidentally, all seven players in that event (Billy Casper, Jim Dent, Dale Douglass, Mike Hill, Gene Littler, Gary Player, Walt Zembriski) also opened with 5-under 67s.

• Defending champion Mark McNulty's 5-under 67 Thursday was his fifth consecutive sub-par score at the Crosswater Club. This event marks the sixth time in his Champions Tour career that he's successfully defended a title. The closest he's come to successfully defending a title on the Champions Tour was when he finished tied for second at the TPC of Tampa Bay in the 2005 Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am.

• Jack Nicklaus won this championship in back-to-back years twice (1990-91, 1995-96) and Gil Morgan won in consecutive years in 1997-98. McNulty finished third at the recent U.S. Senior Open, one of just three players to finish under par in the championship two weeks ago at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo.

• Mark Wiebe (-5), Tim Simpson (-5), Jay Haas (-5), Mike Goodes (-4), D.A. Weibring (-4) and Gil Morgan (-2) all played their rounds without a bogey.

• Massy Kuramoto's 4-under 68 Thursday included birdies on all four par 3s at Crosswater. Kuramoto had just 25 putts on his round and extended his streak of holes without a three-putt to 254 straight, the year's best run.

• Thursday's scoring average was 71.254, the first time a field has averaged under par at the Crosswater Club. Last year's first-round stroke average was 72.595. On Thursday, there were 21 rounds in the 60s and 36 players were under par. Last year on Thursday, a total of 10 players had rounds in the 60s and 25 players finished under par.

• The most difficult hole Thursday was No. 18 with an average of 4.194 (+.194). Last year on Thursday, the 18th hole played as the hardest at 4.380 (+.380). No. 2 was again the easiest for the first round at 4.687 (-.313). Last year, the hole averaged 4.734 (-.266) on Thursday.

• Joe Ozaki had the day's fewest putts (22), including 14 one-putts. Mark McNulty, Tim Simpson and D.A. Weibring all hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation. McNulty, Dave Eichelberger and Bobby Wadkins hit all 14 fairways off the tee Thursday. Tom Purtzer had the longest recorded drive of the day, 331 yards at the par-4 14th hole.

• The Champions Tour's Charles Schwab Cup leader, Bernhard Langer, made a great recovery to finish near the lead after the opening round. After going out in 2-over 38, Langer shot 30 on the back nine, the best nine-hole score of the day, and finished at 4-under 68. Langer's back-nine score included birdies on his last four holes.