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LAKEWAY, Texas -- Nick Price's 7-under 65 Friday gave him his first first-round lead on the Champions Tour and was his lowest opening round of the year.
In the first five events in Austin, just one first-round leader has gone on to win the FedEx Kinko's Classic. Jay Haas claimed the title in 2006 after being one of six players tied for the top spot after play on Friday.
Denis Watson made consecutive eagles on the front nine Friday, a first on the Champions Tour since R.W. Eaks had back-to-back eagles in the second round of last year's Bank of America Championship. It marked the 15th time in Champions Tour history that a player has made back-to-back eagles in a round.
Watson first holed a 9-iron second shot from 148 yards out of the fairway at the par-4 seventh hole and then, at the par-5 eighth hole, he hit a 4-iron second shot from 215 yards to within two feet of the hole and made the putt.
The top two names on the leaderboard are both looking for their first Champions Tour title, but both players have had past success in Texas. Nick Price (-7) won four times on the PGA TOUR in the Lone Star State, while Mark O'Meara (-6) won the 1990 H.E.B. Open in San Antonio.
D.A. Weibring's 5-under 67 Friday was his sixth straight sub-par round at The Hills Country Club.
Scott Hoch's 5-under 67 Friday was the best start by a defending champion in event history. The previous best was by Jay Haas, the 2006 defending champion, who shot 71 in the first round the following year.
Among the three players in the field from Austin, both Ben Crenshaw and Tom Jenkins carded 2-under 70s Friday while Tom Kite posted a 2-over 74.
Mark Balen, a collegiate teammate of John Cook and Joey Sindelar at Ohio State, carded a 6-over 78 in his Champions Tour debut Friday.
Both Craig Stadler and Nick Price matched the tournament's 9-hole record of 31. Stadler shot his 5-under score on the front nine and Price's 5-under score on the back nine included five birdies in his last six holes.
Friday's field scoring average of 72.143 was the lowest first-round stroke average in event history. The previous low for a Friday round was last year, 72.385. On Friday, there were 17 rounds in the 60s and 36 scores below par. Last year, 15 players broke 70 on Friday and there were 32 rounds below par.
The hardest hole in Round 1 was No. 15 (4.273). No. 3 played as the second-most difficult (3.208), yielding just five birdies Friday. The par-5 eighth played as the easiest hole 4.649, yielding four eagles and 32 birdies.
David Edwards withdrew before the start of the round and was replaced in the field by Joe Inman. R.W. Eaks withdrew during the round with back spasms.