On a day when the fairways were hard and fast and the greens soft and receptive, the conflicting conditions at Congressional Country Club produced an eclectic mix of leaders in the opening round of the inaugural AT&T National Thursday.
Tied for first place at 4-under-par 66 were Australia’s Stuart Appleby, Fiji’s Vijay Singh, Korea’s K.J. Choi and Americans Jim Furyk and Joe Ogilvie.
Among a group of six, a stroke back are the tournament’s oldest player, Fred Funk, 51, the third-oldest, Corey Pavin, 47, the youngest, Jamie Lovemark, 19, who won the NCAA championship last month as a freshman at USC, and a pair of former Avenel champions, Rich Beem and Steve Stricker.
All five of the leaders played in the afternoon, interrupted by a 14-minute rain delay, and will resume play this morning. Also teeing off in the morning is tournament host Tiger Woods, who is in danger of missing the cut after shooting 3-over 73.
“You couldn’t have asked for a better atmosphere,” said Woods. “I ruined it by having four 3-putts. I’m really excited for the weekend to see what happens. Hopefully, I can play a little better.”
Despite Woods’ troubles, it’s a worthy leaderboard. Four of the five tied for first place are ranked in the top 30 in the world. Ogilvie is the only one without a PGA Tour victory, but has three seconds and two thirds and has earned $5.95 million in a profitable career.
“The tournament is going to be won or lost hitting it in the fairway,” said Ogilvie, who closed with three birdies. “If the greens firm up, it will be a U.S. Open course by next week. They could have it because the rough certainly is healthy.”
Singh shot himself into contention despite ankle and back woes. On No. 8, his next to last hole, he was in noticeable pain, after hitting a shot.
Appleby’s quick start was no surprise. He has a history of strong play in Washington, winning at Avenel in 1998, one of his eight PGA Tour victories, and posting three other top 10s in the Booz Allen.
Lovemark might be the most intriguing name on the leader board. After his junior year in high school, he became the youngest winner in the history of the Western Amateur. In three professional outings, the 6-foot-4 Lovemark has made the cut in each, including a second-place showing in a Nationwide Tour event two weeks ago.
“Each time I play, I feel a lot more comfortable,” said Lovemark. “I just try to think of it as another tournament.”
