PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – No matter what happens when the first round of the Northern Trust Open is completed on Friday morning, there will be more players tied for the lead than after any round of any tournament on the PGA TOUR since such records started being kept in 1970.

The current tally is nine – John Senden, Martin Laird, Robert Allenby, Spencer Levin, Aaron Baddeley, Ben Martin, Bill Haas, Carl Pettersson and J.B. Holmes. And Peter Tomasulo could make it 10 if he converts a 13-footer for birdie at the 18th hole when he resumes his first round at 7:45 a.m.

The previous record was eight.

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Fred Couples is playing with two potential members of his Presidents Cup team  this afternoon in Bubba Watson and Anthony Kim. He might want to be keeping an eye on the competition, though.

Of the 12 players at the top of the leaderboard right now who have finished their first rounds in the Northern Trust Open, six  are eligible to play for the International Team. Not to mention, five of them are Australians – which should play well when the matches are played at Royal Melbourne Nov. 14-20.

Aussies John Senden, Robert Allenby and Aaron Baddeley are among the six players tied for the lead at 4 under. Two more from Down Under -- Geoff Ogilvy and Stuart Appleby – finished at 2 under while Fiji’s Vijay Singh is among those who shot 68s.

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- At least he beat the daunting rush hour traffic here in Los Angeles.

But John Senden still had a very early wake-up call for his first round of the Northern Trust Open. And with that 7:11 a.m. PT tee time, the veteran from Australia was on the putting green before the sun was up.

"There was one guy there with a torch he was shining on the hole," Senden said, smiling and only half-joking.

The fact that Senden was referring to a flashlight, not a Tonga torch was briefly lost in the translation. Regardless, once he warmed up – the range was lighted and Mother Nature soon cooperated, Senden was on his way to a 67 that was his lowest round in 17 attempts at Riviera.

Senden teed off on the 10th hole and didn't waste time setting the tone for the day as he made a 4-footer for birdie there. He added another from similar distance at the 18th hole to turn in 2 under and followed with a two-putt from the fringe at the par-5 first.

His longest putt of the day was the 25-footer Senden made for his fourth birdie at the fourth hole. He gave that back when he missed an 18-inch putt for par at No. 5 but Senden polished his round off with another 4-footer for birdie at No. 7

"The golf course played extremely well this morning," he said. "... Today I sort of didn't strike the ball extremely well, but my iron shots even out of the rough were pretty good. This year I think the rough isn't as high as it's been. It's playable out of the rough. 

"I think previous times I've been here, you hit into the rough and it's a real challenge to get the ball on the green. So I'm thinking that that gives you a lot of chances. You've still got to drive the ball well and come out of the fairways, but today I sort of was lucky enough to get some nice lies in the rough and play my way onto the green, so had a good day."

Senden says Riviera reminds him of some of the courses Down Under. Maybe that's why he's not the only Aussie high on the leaderboard -- Robert Allenby just finished at 4 under, as well.

"I think that maybe looking at all the big gum trees around the golf course makes this feel like we're at home," Senden said with a smile. "It's a fabulous golf course.  I really enjoy it. My results here haven't been fantastic, but the nature of the golf course here is similar to what we have in Australia where there's a lot of subtleties. Even though the greens -- some greens are small, some greens are large, so there's a good variety, and that's what we have at home.

"And it's just a great piece of property for a golf course.  I think it's in a valley but it's got a lot of slope, a lot of uphill, a lot of downhill shots.  Very unique; every hole looks very different. You see a lot of the modern golf courses these days look very much the same every hole, but Riviera is very unique, and it's been great to see that they basically have not changed it over the number of years, well, I've been coming here, but probably go way back and it's hardly changed at all, and that's because it's just a great design from the beginning."

Senden said he'd normally be looking to get between 10 to 15 under to have a chance at his second PGA TOUR title. That said, he's mindful of the rainy weather forecast and how the complexion of the course might change in the next few days.

"I think tomorrow there might be some disruptions with weather, so we've got to be patient with that," Senden said. "And the golf course ... with the little bit of rain yesterday, it was a little bit softer than it was Tuesday.  I'm thinking that it can be another soft day again probably tomorrow and Saturday, so it might even be more target golf on the weekend. 

"So the scoring might be a little bit lower than expected."  -- Helen Ross

It’s still very early in the opening round of the Northern Trust Open, but John Senden is your clubhouse leader -- for now.

The Aussie hit just nine fairways and 10 greens in regulation, but he scrambled well enough to make five birdies and just one bogey on his way to a 67 at Riviera.

Senden has missed each of his last three cuts, but just two years ago had a breakout season with a career-high seven top-10s and more than $2 million in earnings. Last season was a step backward for the 39-year-old, though, as he had just two top-10s.

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – So far this year, Mark Wilson has won every other week he’s played – starting with the Sony Open in Hawaii.

So given past history it should come as no surprise to see the FedExCup leader in contention early at the Northern Trust Open. After all, this is Wilson’s second start since he picked up his second win of the season at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Wilson started on the front nine Thursday and bogeyed his first hole. He’s made three birdies since – sinking putts of 12, 15 and 11 feet – to move to 2 under through 14 holes.

Jarrod Lyle, John Senden and Martin Laird are currently setting the pace at 4 under. – Helen Ross

Add John Senden's name to the growing lost of players at 7 under. The big Aussie already has a tie for 11th and a tie for ninth in two Fall Series events, and he birdied the par-5 ninth to finish with a 64 in the opener at TPC Summerlin.

Senden was 18-for-18 in greens hit on Thursday. For the year, he is fourth on TOUR in GIR and 21st in Total Driving.

Senden missed nine cuts before the Deutsche Bank Championship in the second round of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. He finished solo eighth at TPC Boston, breaking 70 in every round.

Here’s a Kodak Challenge update from the morning wave Thursday at the Viking Classic:

-- Lee Janzen  and John Senden each posted birdies this morning on No. 18, this week’s Kodak Challenge hole , to join Troy Merritt in second place in the Kodak Challenge standings at 12 under. Senden narrowly missed carding an eagle with his 62-footer sliding a few feet past the hole.

-- Nicholas Thompson took advantage of the Kodak Challenge scoring rules to move up two strokes to 11-under with a birdie this morning. The Kodak Challenge records a player’s best 18 Kodak Challenge holes scores, but once a player has played more than 18 holes subsequent holes provide the opportunity to replace bogeys and pars on their Kodak Challenge scorecards with birdies. This can create a one, two, or even three-shot swing in a player’s score on just one hole.

-- Kodak Challenge contenders Troy Merritt, Tim Petrovic and Carl Pettersson will get a crack at the Kodak Challenge hole this afternoon. -- Chuck Beeler

Here are some FedExCup notes for the players in the final five groups in Sunday’s final round:

MARTIN LAIRD: Currently 95th in the standings, Laird is looking to take the No. 1 spot in the standings with a win. Laird was one of 15 players who played their way into the Deutsche Bank Championship from outside the cut line in 2008 with a T7 finish at The Barclays. This year, Laird has ranked outside the top five for the last 32 consecutive weeks of the regular season.

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Johnson is one of six players to have held No. 1 spot in the standings at any point during the 2010 regular season (weeks 6 – 9). Johnson has not ranked worse than 14th since week No. 4 of the regular season (29 consecutive weeks inside the top 15).

JASON DAY: Currently 28th in the standings, Day is the second-highest ranked Australian in the FedExCup standings (behind Robert Allenby). Day could potentially move to first in the standings Sunday with a win.

ADAM SCOTT: Currently 32nd in the standings, Scott could potentially take the No. 1 spot in the standings with a win. Entering the 2009 Barclays, Scott ranked 116th in the standings and this year he ranks 32nd. This is an 84-spot improvement and the second largest improvement among players in the 125 in both years.

JUSTIN ROSE: One of five players on TOUR this season with multiple wins (2). Entering the 2010 Playoffs, Rose is the No. 5 seed in the standings. This is an 86-spot improvement over his 2009 standing upon entering the Playoffs and the largest improvement among players in the 125 both years.

RYAN PALMER: One of six players to have held the No. 1 spot in the standings at any point during the 2010 regular season (weeks 2 and 3). After ranking inside the top 30 for the first 21 weeks of the regular season, Palmer fell outside after missing five consecutive cuts. However, Palmer righted the ship with a runner-up at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, moving back inside the top 30 entering the Playoffs.

MATT KUCHAR: Currently ninth in the standings, Kuchar is the second-highest ranked player on TOUR
without a win this year (behind Jeff Overton). Kuchar has a TOUR-leading and career-best nine top 10s in his 21 starts of the 2010 regular season. Kuchar has not ranked worse than 12th in the standings in the 33 weeks of the regular season.

JOHN SENDEN: Currently 99th in the standings, Senden is looking to move inside the top 30 for the first time this season with a fourth or better finish. Senden has ranked outside the top 30 for the first 33 weeks of the regular season.

VAUGHN TAYLOR: Currently 38th in the standings, Taylor has ranked inside the top 100 during all 33 weeks of the regular season. His lowest rank came during week No. 7 where he dropped to 84th. Taylor could move inside the top five with a T2 or better finish today.

KEVIN STREELMAN: Streelman began the 2008 Playoffs in the 102nd spot and is also ranked 102nd entering this week's Barclays. Streelman made the largest move of the 2008 Barclays (65 spots, from 102nd to 37th).

A few FedExCup notes on the players in the final three groups in Saturday’s third round:

JASON DAY: Currently 28th in FedExCup points, Day is the second-highest ranked Australian in the FedExCup standings (behind Robert Allenby). Day could potentially move to first overall in the standings this week with a win.

KEVIN STREELMAN: Began the 2008 Playoffs in the 102nd spot and is also ranked 102nd entering this week's Barclays. Streelman made the largest move of the 2008 Barclays (from 102nd to 37th -- 65 spots).

VAUGHN TAYLOR: Currently 38th in the standings, Taylor has ranked inside the top 100 during all 33 weeks of the regular season. His worse rank came during week No. 7 where he dropped to 84th.

STEWART CINK: One of three players who have made all 13 starts in the Playoffs since 2007. He is also one of six players to have made it to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola (top 30) in each of the first three seasons of the Playoffs.

MARTIN LAIRD: Currently 95th in the standings, Laird is looking to crack the top 30 with a fourth or better finish this week. Laird was one of 15 players who played their way into the Deutsche Bank Championship from outside the cut line in 2008 with a T7 finish at the ’08 Barclays.

JOHN SENDEN: Currently 99th in the standings, Senden is looking to move inside the top 30 for the first time this season with a fourth or better finish. Senden has ranked outside the top 30 for the first 33 weeks of the regular season.

John Senden came to New Jersey in a precarious position, ranked 99th in the FedExCup – one spot above the cut line for next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship.

The Aussie has taken matters into his own hands, though – making five birdies in his first eight holes to move to sole possession of the lead at 9 under for the tournament. He’s two strokes ahead of Kevin Streelman and three up on Stewart Cink, Vaughn Taylor and defending champ Heath Slocum.

Senden, whose only PGA TOUR win came at the 2006 John Deere Classic, birdied his first three holes on Friday – rolling in putts of 6, 38 and 19 feet. He made a 16-inch birdie putt at No. 6 and a 28-footer at the eighth to pad his lead.