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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 6:54 p.m., Friday, January 18, 2008

Tom Purtzer shoots 62 for one-shot lead in MasterCard

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

KA'UPULEHU, Hawai'i — As the Champions Tour teed off today in the 25th MasterCard Championship at Hualalai, the whales were waiting and the wind was not.

Any element of difficulty disappeared from Hualalai Golf Club when the elements — specifically the wind — were MIA for the third straight year. Of the 41 players in this winners-only event, only six did not break par, including defending champion Hale Irwin (72).

The average score was 67.537, a first-round record. The most honest assessment came from John Harris, who shot 65 despite two bogeys: "Frankly," he said, after birdieing five of his first seven, "without the wind it's not very hard out here."

Tom Purtzer found it easiest as he broke par here for the 13th straight round and seized a tenuous lead. He bolted to 9-under in the first 13 holes, draining seven birdie putts from within 10 feet and an eagle from 15 feet. He cooled off on the final five holes, including a three-putt par on the 14th, and still finished with a 10-under 62.

That is also a first-round record here, one off Loren Roberts' tournament record and two back of the lowest score in tour history. It hardly offered any separation from a field thriving on Hualalai's benign setting and offseasons that left it rested and clearly ready.

Jim Thorpe chased Purtzer in, opening the 2008 season by playing his first 12 holes in 9-under — lipping out four times. He couldn't keep up, a bogey on the 17th dropping him to 63 with playing partner Allen Doyle.

This is Thorpe's eighth straight year at Hualalai. He has four Top-10 finishes, including seconds in his first and last appearances. He is coming off a win in last year's final event.

"Allen and I both shot 9-under par and I don't think we made anything we shouldn't have made, and we could have been a shot or two better," said Thorpe, 58. "Allen and Dana (Quigley) and I were talking earlier this week that we think you have to average seven birdies a day. When I finished 10 at 7-under par I said, 'OK, I'll start working on tomorrow now.'"