Mitsubishi Electric C'ship: Round 1 notebook

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Weather: Sunny with highs in the low 80s and winds from the west at 10-15 mph.

• Firsts of the year on the Champions Tour:
Eagle -- Jerry Pate (par-5, 7th hole)
Birdie -- Andy North (par-4, 1st hole)
Bogey-Free Round -- Phil Blackmar (66)
Sub-Par Round -- Peter Jacobsen (67)
Round In The 60s -- Peter Jacobsen (67)

• Tom Watson became the first player ever to shoot 63 twice in the first round at Hualalai (2006) and his 9-under-par 63 (7 birdies, one eagle) today was his lowest score on the Champions Tour since posting an 8-under 63 in the first round of the 2008 Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. Here's a quick glance at Watson's Champions Tour career-best rounds:

• Prior to Friday, Tom Watson has been a first-round leader/co-leader 10 times in his Champions Tour career. However, he's only gone on to win twice after being the opening-round leader (2003 Senior British Open, 2008 Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am).

• Watson's 63 on Friday means the first-round leader in this event has not posted a score higher than 64 since 2003 when Hale Irwin, Dana Quigley and Steve Veriato all carded 6-under 66s in the first round.

• Watson's two-stroke advantage after Round 1 of the 2010 Mitsubishi Electric Championship is the largest after the first day since Hale Irwin led by two shots after play on Friday in 2007.

• Since the tournament moved to Hualalai in 1997, six first-round leaders/co-leaders have managed to go on to victory -- Gil Morgan (1998), John Jacobs (1999), Tom Kite (2002), Dana Quigley (2003), Loren Roberts (2006) and Bernhard Langer (2009).

• Several newcomers got off to good starts in their first events of the season on the Champions Tour. Tom Lehman, fresh off a T16 at the PGA TOUR's Sony Open in Hawaii last week, carded a 7-under 65 (8 birdies, 1 eagle, 1 triple-bogey) while Fred Couples posted the same score (6 birdies, 1 eagle, 1 bogey) in his first official appearance on the Champions Tour. Michael Allen, who T25 last week at the Sony Open and was the winner of last year's Senior PGA Championship, posted a 6-under 66 in only his fourth career start on the circuit. Corey Pavin shot 5-under 67 in his debut on the Champions Tour.

• 22 of the 36 players in this week's field shot rounds in the 60s today compared to 29 players in the 34-player field on Friday last year. In 2008, 31 of the 41 players in the field had opening rounds in the 60s. The field average for today's first round was 68.944 compared to 69.000 on Friday last year. In 2008, the first-round scoring average was 67.537, the lowest ever on Friday at Hualalai.

• Loren Roberts, the 2007 and 2009 Charles Schwab Cup winner, and a champion at Hualalai in 2006, kicked off his 2010 season with a 3-under-par 69, his 13th consecutive sub-par round at Hualalai and 12th overall score in the 60s at this course.

• 64-year-old Hale Irwin made his 15th straight appearance in this event, the longest streak by a player in tournament history, and opened with a 5-under 67 at Hualalai. Today's round was Irwin's 29th score in the 60s (43rd round) at this event and his birdie on the 10th hole today was his 200th overall in this event. Irwin had seven total birdies and now is just nine birdies shy of 200 at Hualalai. Irwin won this tournament in 1997 and 2007 and was T2 in 1998 and 2000.

• Peter Jacobsen played in just eight events on the Champions Tour last year and did not start his season until June due to rotator cuff surgery in his left shoulder. After closing the 2009 campaign with a 5-under-par 66 at the AT&T Championship in San Antonio, Jacobsen opened 2010 with a 5-under 67 at Hualalai today, marking the first time since the first two days of the 2008 3M Championship that he has posted consecutive scores in the 60s.

• Defending champion Bernhard Langer, the Champions Tour's Player of the Year the last two years, shot 4-under 68 at Hualalai today, his seventh consecutive round in the 60s on this course.

• The par-5 7th hole played as the easiest (4.250), with three eagles, 21 birdies and 12 pars. The par-3 5th hole played as the hardest (3.500), yielding just one birdie (R.W. Eaks), 22 pars, 8 bogeys, four double-bogeys, one triple-bogey.

• Tom Lehman made the most birdies (8) and his 6-under 30 on the back nine was the low 9 in Round 1...Fred Couples averaged 322 yards on the two holes used to measure drives this week...Brad Bryant, Jerry Pate and Bobby Wadkins hit all 14 fairways today...Dan Forsman hit 17 of 18 greens (94.4%) in Round 1...Tom Watson needed only 22 putts and Phil Blackmar had only 23 putts.