Invensys Classic: Golfers go low on first day

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2002 | 10:12 a.m.

With ideal weather and pristine courses, the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas was at the mercy of the world's finest golfers and they didn't disappoint.

Supported by a flurry of low scores both early and late in the day Wednesday, the first round of the annual tournament was, predictably, a birdiefest.

Anyone failing to reach red numbers is already in trouble as the five-day event continues today at the TPC at Summerlin, TPC at the Canyons and Southern Highlands.

Steve Jones had the best opening-round score, a 62 at the par-71 Canyons.

"If you're making pars out here, you'd better go home," he remarked after carding an amazing 11 one-putt greens en route to tying his lowest round ever as a professional.

Jones, 43, is an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, including the 1996 U.S. Open, but his play here has never been particularly noteworthy. That may change if he continues to wield a hot putter and play bogey-free, as he did in inching ahead of a tightly packed field and as he was doing during his 1988-89 heyday.

Technically -- or depending on your point of view -- Jones is tied for the lead after one round in that both he and Lee Janzen are nine under par. Janzen had a 63 on the par-72 TPC at Summerlin.

The discrepancy between the courses will take three days to eliminate, or until each of the 144 professionals has played a round on each of the courses.

Of the 13 best scores, only Jones' 62 and Tim Herron's 65 came at the Canyons. Of the remaining 11 top scores, seven were recorded at Summerlin.

The $5 million tournament, which will award $900,000 to its winner Sunday, includes 432 amateurs who will compete with an eye toward advancing to their own championship Saturday.

There was nothing amateurish about Janzen's play, especially a closing sequence that allowed him to card a back-nine 30.

"It's easy to press because you think you have to shoot 63 every day," he said of the accessibility of the tournament's courses. "I just try to stay away from gambling on too many holes."

A pair of golfers, the red-hot if dragging Rich Beem and former Las Vegan J.L. Lewis, turned in eight-under 64s and were atop the leader board until Janzen and Jones strolled in late in the day.

Beem, who won both the International and the PGA Championship within a three-week span in August, admits his increased celebrity is taking a toll.

"I'm a little tired," he said. "Things haven't calmed down. There are so many more obligations than I had before."

Yet his weariness wasn't evident in his play at Southern Highlands as he laid claim to four birdies and two eagles, including a chip in from almost 70 yards on No. 18.

Lewis, 42, a former assistant pro at the Las Vegas Country Club, cruised around the Summerlin course and posted eight birdies, four of which came consecutively on hole Nos. 11-14.

"You've got to shoot at least five under (par) out here to be competitive," he said. "I kept the ball in play and had a lot of opportunities, although I could have putted a little better."

Another stroke back was an eight-man group at seven-under par, including Herron, Paul Stankowski, John Huston, Glen Day, Notah Begay, Jonathan Byrd, Scott Verplank, Dan Forsman and Las Vegan Chris Riley. Each shot a 65, with all but Herron, Huston, Begay and Byrd playing at Summerlin.

Riley, saying "it took me until the seventh hole to get focused," had a 29 on the back side of a course where he now owns a home.

"Conditions were perfect and anytime that happens there ought to be low scores," Stankowski said. "I had a couple of two-putt birdies and a couple of others that I kicked in.

"I gave myself some chances."

Looking to give himself an even better chance was Mike Weir, part of another large group at six-under par. He had a 66 at Southern Highlands but that didn't stop him from venturing to Summerlin later in the day, where he hit balls on the range and putted for almost two hours in the afternoon heat.

"I wanted to fine tune some things," he said. "I had a solid enough round, but it was nothing spectacular."

Asked if he, like several others, might be feeling he has a step up on the field in that he had a low score on a course other than Summerlin, Weir said it had crossed his mind.

"Yeah, it would seem to be an advantage," he said. "By tour standards, none of these courses are too difficult, but this one (Summerlin) I guess is the easiest. But you still have to hit your key shots at the right times."

The TPC at Summerlin, which will be the sole course in use Saturday and Sunday, played to a four-under 68 average in the first round. The par-5 third hole was especially generous in that it played to a 4.049 average.