Going low on day one

Adam Candee

Thursday, Oct. 9, 2003 | 10:27 a.m.

Forget about Southern Highlands. It looked more like Steve Flesch was lining up his second shot at No. 2 as a putt-putt masterpiece at Scandia, aiming some 8 feet to the side of the cup on his chip.

Yet on serene days like Wednesday, when the three courses of the Las Vegas Invitational yield more scoring than Coors Field, swooping 20-footers with breaks the size of Yao Ming find the hole for birdies.

"It's hard not to shoot good scores when the conditions are like this," said Flesch, who shared the clubhouse lead with Stuart Appleby at 10-under after the first of five rounds. "Or at least you feel like you really screwed up if you don't."

That is especially true if you get the added benefit of playing under lift-clean-and-place rules, as golfers at Southern Highlands did because of fairways still recovering from overseeding. Combined with soft greens and a day without a hint of wind, it is easy to understand how 124 of the 144 professionals in the tournament shot even par or better.

Appleby, last year's LVI co-runner-up along with Jeff Sluman, said everything lined up almost too perfectly, with mild sunny weather and "benign" course conditions. Appleby closed his round with six consecutive birdies, a streak that he said he had never matched.

"You've got to be careful that you don't try and make too many birdies out here," Appleby said.

A group of five players, including Henderson's Craig Barlow, began play today one stroke behind the co-leaders. Barlow and Dan Forsman actually both shot 62 to match Flesch and Appleby, but their rounds were played at the par-71 TPC at the Canyons course. The other two courses are both par-72.

Former UNLV golfer Chad Campbell headlines a group of seven golfers who shot 8-under opening rounds. The big Texan woke up around 5 a.m. for a 6:50 a.m. tee time at TPC at Summerlin and enjoyed the advantage of playing before the pace slowed down in the afternoon under the pro-am format. The final groups that went off just after 1 p.m. were still chasing down the sun at 6:30 p.m.

"The earlier, the better for me," Campbell said. "I love playing in the morning. Once you get up, it's not a big deal. Getting up is the hardest part."

Getting up and down, however, was the easy part for the field. Most of the leaders converted scoring opportunities from 15 feet and in on soft greens with less challenging pin locations.

"The greens were perfect, so everybody was able to make a lot of birdie putts," said Aaron Barber, who shot a 9-under 63 at Southern Highlands. "There were definitely a lot more birdie holes that at most tournaments."

A first-time Tour winner this year at the HP Classic of New Orleans, Flesch agreed with both the assessments of both Campbell and Barber.

"Playing at 7 (a.m.) was key," Flesch said. "The greens are running perfectly and I got off to a quick start, birdieing the first five right out of the box."

Appleby spent considerable time at the putting green Tuesday afternoon and the extra practice apparently paid off for the native Australian chasing his first Tour victory since 1999. He felt relaxed as his round went from good to great at its close.

"You cannot be too concerned if you have some quiet holes because you can turn it on like I did and make six birdies," Appleby said.

Chris DiMarco's 61 in 2001 is the only lower round at Southern Highlands in LVI play than Flesch and Appleby's Wednesday rounds. The course is in its third year of rotation in the tournament.

The players will rotate courses and playing partners today, joining a new trio of amateurs for their round. After taking a turn at all three courses, the cut will be made after Friday's play and the final two rounds of the $4 million Invitational will take place at TPC at Summerlin.