CASTLE ROCK, CO--Sweden’s Mathias Gronberg holds the first-round lead with 13 points -- he posted eight birdies along with a double-bogey on No. 9. Gronberg has held one previous career 18-hole lead on the PGA TOUR -- at the 2006 Honda Classic where he finished tied for 16th.

•Mathias Gronberg has four career top-10s, with one of them being a tie for ninth in his INTERNATIONAL debut in 2004. His best career finish was solo fourth at the Shell Houston Open earlier this year, where Stuart Appleby won in wire-to-wire fashion.

•Australian John Senden, the winner of the John Deere Classic last month, posted the best round of the afternoon with 11 points. He stands tied for second with Stuart Appleby, Stewart Cink and Tom Pernice, Jr. Senden had a tough start -- with bogeys on his opening two holes – but he rebounded seven birdies (and one bogey) the rest of the way.

•Past champion Tom Pernice, Jr., is coming off a top-10 performance at the Buick Open last week (tied for 7th) and stands tied for second after 18 holes with 11 points.

•Jay Delsing, the last alternate that made it in the field, is tied for ninth after the first round after posting nine points. Delsing replaced alternate John Riegger (unable to get to Colorado) who replaced Phil Tataurangi, who withdrew Wednesday due to a shoulder injury.

•While they are unofficial this week, the long drivers of the PGA TOUR are neck-and-neck this week. J.B. Holmes, No. 2 on TOUR at 314.8 yards, leads the field after the first day at 359.0 yards while Bubba Watson, No. 1 on TOUR at 319.3 yards is tied for second with Ryan Hietala at 355.5 yards. Two drives are measured each day for this purpose.

•Past champion David Toms (tied for ninth) looks to be healthy once again after missing the cut last week at the Buick Open, his first event since withdrawing after the first round of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot due to a back injury. Toms’ caddie Scott Gneiser is a member at Medinah Country Club, the site of next week’s PGA Championship. His wife, Jane, the daughter of former Chicago Black Hawks great Stan Mikita, is a former women’s club champion at Medinah.

•Danny Ellis (tied for sixth) had an up-and-down road -- he finished with the front nine without a point but rallied on his final nine with three birdies, an eagle (No. 17) and one bogey (No. 15).

•What a difference a year makes -- Denver native and last year’s runner-up Brandt Jobe sits tied for last at 140th after posting -11 points on Thursday. Jobe was hampered by four double-bogeys on Nos. 1, 3, 10 and 15, where he lost 12 points on the day.

•Ryder Cup hopeful Lucas Glover (No. 13 in current standings) recovered from a double-bogey on No. 15, finishing with three consecutive birdies to finish with four points.

•Four of the top seven rookies on the PGA TOUR are on hand this week at The INTERNATIONAL. Here’s a breakdown of their respective seasons:

 Top Rookies on the PGA TOUR in 2006 (Bold indicates playing this week)
		Starts-				Money	Driving	DD	
Rookie	Made Cuts	Wins	Top-10s	Earnings	Rank	Distance  Rank
Trevor Immelman	17-12	1	5	$3,030,746	6	293.3	  60
J.B. Holmes	19-10	1	2	$1,246,346	41	314.3	  2
Camilo Villegas	21-14	0	3	$1,522,115	31	304.7	  8
Nathan Green	21-16	0	5	$1,343,887	37	283.1	  T152
Nick O’Hern	11-7	0	2	$862,419	68	276.4	  187
Charley Hoffman	20-15	0	3	$743,678	85	304.5	  9
Bubba Watson	19-9	0	2	$575,951	106	319.3	  1

•With strong play from some of the PGA TOUR’s less-experienced players, along with the change in the PGA of America’s point structure that emphasizes the second year, there should be several new faces on this year’s United States Ryder Cup captained by Tom Lehman. With two weeks to go, players in-line for their first Ryder Cup squad include Vaughn Taylor (7), J.J. Henry (8), Zach Johnson (9) and Brett Wetterich (10). In addition, potential first-timers loom at Nos. 11, 12 and 13 (John Rollins, Jerry Kelly and Lucas Glover). The top-10 through the PGA Championship earn automatic berths on the squad, and Lehman is allotted two Captain’s picks as well. The Ryder Cup will be contested in Ireland, September 22-24. If they make the team, Taylor (30) and Glover (26) would be younger than Tiger Woods – the first teammates since 1997 (Woods’ first Ryder Cup squad) to be younger than the 30-year-old Woods.

•Doug Barron withdrew after the first round for undisclosed reasons. Brendan Jones withdrew after 12 holes due to injury.