By Bill Cooney
Special to PGATOUR.com

MILWAUKEE -- Corey Pavin marched full-steam ahead, never looking back, hardly looking up.

After he birdied the eighth, birdied the ninth and carded an unusual par on the 10th hole at Brown Deer Park Golf Course Thursday, Pavin couldn’t possibly escape the voices taunting his soul.

“Only three more birdies,” the little voice must have said. “Three more for a 59.”

In case Pavin forgot that he birdied eight of his first nine en route to a PGA TOUR-record nine-hole total of 26, Frank Lickliter gave a little reminder, nodding as Pavin passed his group during the first round of the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.

“That’s Frank’s way of encouraging me,” Pavin said.

True, but it also offered Pavin another dose of reality, force-feeding images of a golf no-no — thinking ahead about a potential score. If his competitor’s body language didn’t do the trick on his way to the 11th tee, the mere reaction of the scattering gallery gave it away.

“I don’t know if I heard anybody say 59, but they were thinking it,” Pavin said. “I was thinking it after that birdie on 8.”

Pavin, who hasn’t won since the 1996 MasterCard Colonial, made eight pars and one more birdie on his inward half for a 9-under-par 61. He led by three shots over Indian Arjun Atwal before afternoon thunderstorms suspended first-round play until today.

“I was just trying to hit shots the best I could,” Pavin said. “You get kind of nervous obviously, but I was just trying to stay in a good rhythm and walk a good pace.”

At 46, Pavin is searching for a familiar stroll. On Thursday, Pavin offered a blast from the past with his putter, a tool that has failed him of late. Coming in, Pavin ranked 65th in putts per round (29.02).

Pavin credited his caddie Eric Schwarz’s return after a six-month layoff at the Buick Championship where he tied for 21st.

“We’ve worked really hard on the flatstick,” said Pavin, currently 120th on the money list through 16 events. “It showed up in Hartford and it showed up here and those are the two tournaments since he came back on the bag. So it’s worked out well.”

A few more dropped putts might have ignited a run toward 59 — joining Al Geiberger (1977), Chip Beck (1991) and David Duval (1999) in the PGA TOUR’s 18-hole low club — but Pavin wasn’t exactly splitting tree-lined Brown Deer Park.

He hit just two fairways on his eight-birdie front side, which included birdies on his first six holes and a lone par on the 215-yard 7th. He hit one fairway on the back and wound up 3-for-13, shredding the keep-it-in-the-short grass theory.

“I was fortunate,” Pavin admitted. “I drew some good lies in the rough.”

But Pavin, who captured one of his 14 TOUR wins in the 1986 Greater Milwaukee Open at nearby Tuckaway Country Club, hit 16 Greens in Regulation and putted just 25 times, bringing back memories of his victory at the 1995 U.S. Open.

Corey Pavin played a bogey-free round on Thursday. (Levin/WireImage)

Most golf fans still remember Pavin for the 4-wood he carved into the 72nd green at Shinnecock Hills, and his two-putt from five feet that beat Greg Norman by two strokes.

Back then, Pavin’s hair was a bit longer and wasn’t nearly as gray. Technology has given him a few extra yards off the tee, too.

Other than that, not much has changed.

Pavin just needs to feel the butterflies a bit more as he attempts to recapture old glory this week. If Pavin does in Milwaukee, he’ll take home a winner’s check worth $720,000, a hefty bank deposit compared to the $72,000 he earned for his victory in 1986.

“I’ve felt pretty good about my game the last couple of years,” Pavin said. “I just haven’t been able to get it all together for four rounds.

“I’d like to get back in the winner’s circle someday,” he added. “That’s my goal.”