• After sharing the first-round lead with two other players last week at the MasterCard Championship at Hualalai, Loren Roberts, the eventual winner last week, birdied his last hole to take sole possession of the opening-round lead at Turtle Bay. Roberts’s 6-under 66 today is the lowest first-round score since the event moved to Turtle Bay in 2001 (tournament not held in 2004). Last year, three players shared the first-round lead with 67s. Roberts is now a cumulative 31-under-par for his first four rounds on the Champions Tour in 2006 (33 birdies, one eagle, two bogeys, one double-bogey).

• Bruce Summerhays got off to his best-ever start at Turtle Bay, posting a round of 5-under 67 that included seven birdies, but none of any of Turtle Bay’s four par-5s. He did manage to birdie three of the four par-3s on the layout. Summerhays’ four previous appearances at Turtle Bay have been highlighted by a tie for third finish in 2003 and a tie for seventh in 2001. He also finished tied for second in this tournament in 1997 when it was played at Kaanapali on the island of Maui.

• Hale Irwin, a winner of this event five straight years and six times overall, posted only his second round over par in 13 played at Turtle Bay. Irwin made 17 pars and a bogey in posting a 1-over 73 today, matching his second-round 73 on Saturday in the 2003 event.

• After a 1-over 37 on the front nine, Jim Thorpe rallied with the day’s best score on the back-nine, a 4-under 32 that included four consecutive birdies on Nos. 11-14. Don Pooley had the low nine-hole score of the day, shooting a 5-under 31 on the front side en route to a 4-under 68.

• Former Kailua resident Scott Simpson got his 2006 Champions Tour season off to a flying start, holing a 6-iron second shot from 167 yards for an eagle on the first hole. Simpson went on to post a 3-under 69.

• Tom Purtzer withdrew before the start of his round with a bad back. He was replaced in the field by Jim Chancey who shot 1-over 73.

• Massy Kuramoto of Japan (72), Jack Ferenz (75) and David Ishii (73) all made their Champions Tour debuts on Friday.

• Allan Karlowsky is at Turtle Bay Resort this week as the winner of the Champions Tour’s 25th Anniversary Sweepstakes. Last year, Karlowsky won an all-expense paid trip to Turtle Bay to attend this week’s event and played in both pro-am events this week. He also attended the pro-am draw party on Tuesday event and assisted with the start of the traditional turtle race, won for a second consecutive year by Fuzzy Zoeller.

• With winds gusting to 25 mph in the afternoon, Friday’s scoring average of 74.218 was considerably higher than the opening-round average last year (71.885). In 2003, the field averaged 74.704 in the first round. There were just seven rounds in the 60s today compared to 21 last year and just 15 players were under par today compared with 45 of 78 last year. The hardest hole of the day was the par-4 sixth (4.436), yielding just one birdie (Jay Haas).

• Mark Johnson was the only player in the field who played a bogey-free first round.

• Saturday’s second round gets under way at 8:25 a.m. (HST).