Marco Dawson had a bogey free first round to lead the Texas Open where he is hoping to finish in the top three and retain his PGA Tour card. His seven-under-par 64 has him one stroke in front of the field and in a solid position to stay on the Tour.
Dawson, who will turn 38 next month, is playing under a medical extension after back surgery in May last year. Needing to collect $346,785 in his first 20 events, he has won 158,442 dollars in 14 tournaments. Dawson admitted: "It was an extension of last week. I drove the ball well, putted well. It was a lot of fun."
Jay Williamson also negotiated the par-71 layout without a bogey and is tied for second with defending champion Justin Leonard on 65. Brandel Chamblee, Scott McCarron, Carl Paulson and Bob Burns are two shots back, while Sweden's Jesper Parnevik and Australia's Steve Elkington head a group of 15 on 67.
The leaderboard is full of golfers with ties to Texas. Leonard, Chamblee, David Gossett and Bob Estes attended the University of Texas, while Elkington graduated from the University of Houston and Joel Edwards played at North Texas. Dawson began well with a birdie on the first. After three pars, he birdied four of the next six, picking up two more strokes at 13 and 16. The Florida native has not won since joining the PGA Tour in 1986 and was forced to return to qualifying school in 1991, 1992 and 1994. This is the second time this year he has led after the first round. In March, he topped the leaderboard at the BellSouth Classic before tying for 34th.
Williamson began on the back nine and started a stretch of four birdies in five holes with a 13ft putt at the par-four 12th. He ended a string of six pars at the long par-four fifth with a 10ft uphill putt, then rolled in an eight-footer at seven to get within a shot of the lead. Leonard, a former British Open champion who is 39th on the money list without a top three finish, knows what Dawson is going through.
The Texas Open is one of only five events remaining for players seeking berths in the season-ending Tour Championship, which is open to the top 30 on the money list. With the Ryder Cup postponed following the terrorist attacks on the United States, most of the elite players will miss the tournament. Among them are Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Scott Hoch, Sergio Garcia and David Duval.
David Toms, fifth on the money list with 2,677,267 dollars, is the only one among the top 10 entered this week. The PGA Championship winner struggled to a three-over 74.
Filed by Shane Murray
