Notebook: Round 1, Transitions Championship

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Playing on a sponsor's invitation, local resident Garrett Willis fired a 6-under 65 in Round 1 to take a two-stroke lead. The 65 matches his best round of the season (Rd. 1/Bob Hope Classic). This marks his first-ever 18-hole lead on the PGA TOUR.

• Willis is competing in his third Transitions Championship (2002/T74, 2003/MC). His opening-round 65 marks the first time he has broken par (71) in six previous rounds in this event.

• Willis, who resides in Dade City (north of Tampa), is competing in his sixth PGA TOUR event of the season. He has made four of five previous cuts, with a best finish a T26 at the Bob Hope Classic.

• In 2009, Willis made three of six cuts on the PGA TOUR and 14 of 17 cuts on the Nationwide Tour, where he won the WNB Golf Classic in Midland, Texas.

• Willis earned a return trip to the PGA TOUR thanks to a No. 12 finish on the 2009 Nationwide Tour money list.

• The first-round leader has gone on to win two of 11 times so far this year. Ryan Palmer achieved the feat at the Sony Open in Hawaii and Dustin Johnson followed suit at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Since its 2000 inception, the only first-round leader of this event to hang on and win was K.J. Choi in 2002.

• Jeff Maggert, who earned a spot in this week's field when Vijay Singh withdrew 20 minutes before his tee time (back injury), shot a 4-under. He is competing in his eighth Transitions Championship, with three made cuts and a best finish of T19 in 2000.

• Maggert is coming off his best finish of the season with a T12 at last week's Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular. This is his eighth start of the 2010 season.

• Defending Transitions Championship winner Retief Goosen birded Nos. 16 and 17 in the "Snake Pit" en route to a bogey-free 4-under 67. The 2003 and 2009 Transitions champion is competing in his seventh Transitions Championship and his sixth event of the season. So far this year, he has posted three top-10s and missed just one cut (AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am).

• Goosen's grandmother is celebrating her 100th birthday today.

• Rickie Fowler, the 21-year-old stand-out rookie, also posted a 4-under 67 to trail Willis' 6-under lead by two strokes.

• A week after finishing T7 at last year's Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, Fowler lost in a playoff to Troy Matteson at the Frys.com Open. So far this year, he has amassed a pair of top-10 finishes in just seven starts (T5/Farmers Insurance Open, 2/Waste Management Phoenix Open).

• 2005 Transitions Championship winner Carl Pettersson was among those to post a 4-under 67 in round one. Pettersson is making his ninth start of the season, with a best finish being a T5 in his first start of the year at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

• In addition to his 2005 win on the Copperhead course, Pettersson claimed a T8 in 2004. He is making his eighth start in this event, dating back to 2003.

• Looking for his first win since the 2007 RBC Canadian Open, Furyk opened with a 4-under 67 to trail Willis' lead by two.

• Furyk, who is making just his fifth start of the season, hasn't missed a cut since the 2009 Verizon Heritage, a span of 19 events. He is making his third start in this event this week.

• Jonathan Byrd, who shares the lead for most top-20 finishes at the Transitions Championship (four), birdied the daunting, uphill par-4 18th to post a 4-under 67 along with Retief Goosen, Jeff Maggert and Rickie Fowler.

• Brian Gay, Lee Janzen and John Huston are the only three players in this week's field who have competed in each of the previous nine Transitions Championship events.

• There has not been a multiple winner through the first 12 events of the 2010 season. Since 1983, there have been only three seasons that have gone further into the season without a multiple winner -- 2004 (14 events, Phil Mickelson), 2002 (15 events, Tiger Woods) and 1994 (20 events, Nick Price).

• Last week marked the third straight week with a player in his 20s to win on TOUR, and fifth overall in 2010:

• Bogey-free rounds: Retief Goosen (67), Rickie Fowler (67), Jim Furyk (67)

• Vijay Singh withdrew prior to his round with a back injury. He was replaced by Jeff Maggert.