Weather: Sunny and pleasant. High of 78. Winds NW 10-15 mph.
Arjun Atwal, Joe Ogilvie, Jason Day and Nick Watney carded matching 4-under 66s on Thursday to share the lead after the first round of the 2010 AT&T National.
Tiger Woods (73) +3
Defending champion Tiger Woods, the only past champion of the AT&T National participating this week, opened with a 3-over 73, his sixth over-par score in 18 overall rounds this season.
Tiger Woods' worst standings after the opening round of a tournament that he went on to win: 2009 Buick Open (T95) and the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational (T83). He currently sits T81.
Woods made a 61-foot birdie putt on the par-3 5th hole. Since 2003, he has made four putts greater than 60 feet:
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Woods carded a nine-hole score of 39 or higher for the third time this season with Thursday's 4-over 39:
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Prior to this season, the last time Woods carded a nine-hole score of 39 or higher was an opening-nine 39 in the third round of the 2007 THE PLAYERS Championship (finished T37).
Jim Furyk (69) -1
West Chester, PA native Jim Furyk opened with a 1-under 69. Furyk, who hosted the Exelon Invitational, a one-day charity event in the Philadelphia area from 1998-2009, is currently ranked third in the current FedExCup standings and has two wins on the season.
Furyk is playing in his 425th TOUR event. Should he make the cut, Saturday's round would be his 1,500th. By comparison, Justin Leonard is making his 443rd start. He, too, played in his 1,498th round on Thursday.
Sean O'Hair (71) +1
Sean O'Hair, a resident of West Chester, Pa., and an Aronimink member, carded a 1-over 71 on Thursday. He is currently 44th in the FedExCup standings, with two T12 finishes in his last two starts (Memorial Tournament and U.S. Open). O'Hair's only top-10 finish of the year came at the season-opening SBS Championship (T4).
Joe Ogilvie (66) -4
Joe Ogilvie is making his 20th start this year (11 made cuts) and his 318th on TOUR. He had his lone top-10 finish at the Waste Management Phoenix Open (T8) and is currently No. 106 in the FedExCup standings.
Ogilvie is making his fourth start at the AT&T National (T45-2007, T75-2008, T35-2009).
This represents the eighth time Ogilvie has held at least a share of the first-round lead. His best finish in seven previous attempts was a T2 at the 2005 Bob Hope Classic.
Arjun Atwal (66) -4
Arjun Atwal is making his seventh start of the season on the PGA TOUR, with a T7 at the HP Byron Nelson Championship his best finish among four made cuts. He has played in two Nationwide Tour events, with a T10 at the Stadion Athens Classic at UGA his best outing. This is his first-career start at the AT&T National.
Atwal has now held at least a share of the opening-round lead once on the PGA TOUR. His first attempt led to a T5 finish at the 2005 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Atwal is playing this week on a sponsor's exemption. The last player to receive a sponsor's exemption and win on TOUR was Lee Westwood at the 2010 St. Jude Classic presented by Smith & Nephew.
Jason Day (66) -4
Jason Day has made nine cuts in 15 starts this season, with his lone top-10 finish a victory at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. He has missed the cut in both previous starts at the AT&T National (2008, 2009).
Day has now held the lead/co-lead four times on the PGA TOUR, finishing T48 at the 2008 RBC Canadian Open, T2 at the 2009 Puerto Rico Open and first at the 2010 HP Byron Nelson Championship.
Nick Watney (66) -4
Nick Watney finished T36 (2008) and T66 (2009) in his first two starts at the AT&T National.
Watney, No. 34 in the FedExCup standings, has four top-10 finishes among his 15 starts on TOUR this season, with a solo-fourth-place finish at the Transitions Championship his best finish.
Watney has now held the lead/co-lead five times on the PGA TOUR, with his best finish coming at the 2008 SBS Championship (T5).
Rickie Fowler (69) -1
Rickie Fowler, currently No. 13 in the FedExCup standings, opened with a 1-under 69. He is looking for his first PGA TOUR victory after having already finished runner-up twice in 2010 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the Memorial Tournament. Fowler has good vibes in the Philadelphia area, having played on the victorious U.S. Walker Cup Team at Merion in 2009.
Troy Merritt (69) -1
Troy Merritt closed out his 1-under 69 with nine one-putt greens (Nos. 10-18). In all, he had 14 one putts and just 22 putts overall. However, he managed to hit just six of 18 greens in regulation during the first round.
British Open
The top two players, not previously eligible, from a cumulative money list taken from the PLAYERS Championship and the five TOUR events leading up to and including the 2010 AT&T National, will gain entry into the British Open. First-place money this week is $1,116,000 and second place is worth $669,600:
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Miscellaneous Stats
The first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win just six of 26 stroke-play events on TOUR this year, most recently Lee Westwood at the St. Jude Classic. K.J. Choi, the winner of the inaugural AT&T National in 2007, is the only first-round leader/co-leader to carry that lead on to the winner's circle.
Anthony Kim posted a 62 at Congressional CC in 2009 for the best opening-round score at the AT&T National.
The 2010 AT&T National is the first PGA TOUR event in the Philadelphia area since Waynesborough Country Club hosted the 2002 SEI Pennsylvania Classic (won by Dan Forsman).
Nathan Green (71) had a hole-in-one on the fifth hole with an 8-iron from 159 yards. It is the third ace at the AT&T National. Kevin Stadler aced Congressional Country Club's 13th hole in the third round in 2007 and Corey Pavin aced the 10th hole in round two in 2008.
Bob Estes, playing in his 566th PGA TOUR event, is seeking his 400th made cut on TOUR. He opened on Thursday with a 2-under 68.
Kevin Streelman (78) withdrew following the first round due to an illness in the family.
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Bogey-free rounds:
R1--Nick Watney (66), Brett Quigley (67), Carl Pettersson (67), Bob Estes (68)
| Scoring Averages at the par-70 Aronimink Golf Club: | ||||||||||
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The par-5 16th hole was the easiest during the opening round with a 4.683 average.
Jonathan Byrd (70), following an eagle on the par-5 16th hole, became the only player in the field to birdie the par-3 17th hole -- this week's Kodak Challenge Hole. The hole played the toughest on Thursday with a 3.342 average.