Kevin Sutherland, Charles Warren share first-round lead in suspended FBR Open

From WorldGolf.com News Services

Kevin Sutherland probably won't forget his opening round at Thursday's FBR Open anytime soon - never mind the fact that he shot a 6-under-par 65 to share the overnight lead with Charles Warren.

Starting on the back nine at the TPC Scottsdale, Sutherland broke his 9-iron after hitting a cactus with his follow-through on the par-5 13th hole. The Sacramento, Calif., resident still managed to birdie the hole, however, and averted what could've been his only bogey of the day in a six-birdie round.

Sutherland, who said his ball was about one foot from the cactus, was allowed to wrap his leg with a towel held in place by rubber bands so that he could execute the shot without getting pricked by the large cactus.

"So I kind of leaned up against the cactus with my leg and it wasn't sticking me and I thought, 'This is great. This is going to be terrific,'" Sutherland said in a post-round press conference. "I swung my 9-iron and the 9-iron went into the cactus and it just broke, and I was shocked. I was so worried about my leg, it just never occurred to me the club was going to break."

But the damaged club didn't affect Sutherland's shot as his ball sailed right down the middle of the fairway. He capitalized on the shot by making a birdie and then added another birdie at No. 15 before recording birdies on holes 5, 8 and 9.

Sutherland's only problem was that he no longer had a 9-iron. Fortunately for Sutherland, there's a Ping factory in nearby Phoenix and a Ping representative was able to get Sutherland a replacement club six holes later. He wound up using the new 9-iron to birdie No. 9.

"I was kind of half expecting it would be coming tomorrow, but it showed up six holes later, which was pretty amazing," said Sutherland, who won the 2002 World Match Play championship. "It was an amazing story."

Warren's round wasn't quite as memorable, but it was nevertheless solid. The 32 year old from Greenville, S.C., set himself up to make a strong run at his first PGA Tour victory with a bogey-free round that saw him birdie three of his first four holes, starting his round at No. 1.

"Obviously, you want to get off to a good start and this is the kind of golf course where the scores are going to be low," Warren told reporters. "I knew going into the week that you've got to make a lot of birdies and you've got to give yourself a lot of chances, but there's plenty of holes out there where you can make bogey pretty easily.

"I did a good job of navigating the golf course today and putting the ball in the right positions without giving myself a lot of chances for mistakes."

Warren said he was fortunate to have a late tee time. The opening round was delayed 30 minutes due to frost on the course and 35-degree temperatures. Later, the mercury climbed into the mid-50s.

Being second to last off was definitely an advantage," said Warren, whose best PGA Tour finish was second at last year's Reno-Tahoe Open. "Those first guys, when we were finishing up our warm-up on the range, the wind started blowing and it was really, really cold.

"Once the sun got up it was fine, but early going it was definitely a challenge to kind of get your body to feel right."

The first round was suspended at 5:58 p.m. local time with 24 players still on the course. That group included Nick O'Hern, who was 5 under with four holes to play.

The chilly temperatures didn't keep the fans away. With the Super Bowl being played in nearby Glendale, Ariz., a record opening-day crowd of 83,657 turned out with 150,000 fans anticipated for Saturday's round.

Tournament officials predict there's a good chance the tournament's attendance record of 536,767 set in 2006 will fall.

Brian Gay, Camilo Villegas and Rich Beem finished tied for third and one shot off the pace after shooting 5-under 66. Kenny Perry, Brandt Snedeker, Bill Haas, Tommy Armour III, Charles Howell III and Roland Thatcher are tied for seventh at 4-under 67.

Two-time FBR Open champion Phil Mickelson is tied for 14th after a first-round 68. Defending champion Aaron Baddeley was 1 over through 16 holes when play was suspended.

February 1, 2008