MEMPHIS, Tennessee, 28 June 2003 — PGA Tour veteran Jay Haas and rookie Darron Stiles shot seven-under-par 64s on Thursday for a share of the first-round lead in the rain-affected FedEx St. Jude Classic.
After several delays for rain and lightning, play was finally suspended at 8.30 p.m. EDT (0030 GMT) with 56 of the 152-player field yet to complete their opening round.
They were to return to the course the next morning to finish off the first round.
Robert Damron is second in the clubhouse after shooting a six-under 65 while David Peoples is on the same mark but has two holes remaining.
David Gossett, Stan Utley and Dennis Paulson are another stroke behind in a tie for fourth.
Former United States Ryder Cup regular Paul Azinger is in a group of seven players on four-under 67 along with Jim Gallagher Jr., Bob Estes, John Huston, Kirk Triplett, South Africa’s Brenden Pappas and Australia’s Aaron Baddeley.
The 49-year-old Haas, who won this event in 1992 at the TPC at Southwinds, is having one of has best seasons on the PGA Tour.
He has already earned over $1.8 million, the first time he has ever won more than $1 million in a single season.
On Thursday, Haas stumbled at the first hole with a bogey, then ran off seven straight birdies before finishing the front nine with a par. He wrapped up the 64 with one bogey and two birdies on the back nine.
In a bid for his eighth straight birdie, Haas hit a good drive at the ninth hole, but a poor pitch and did well just to make par.
David Toms, the world number seven and the only player in the world’s top-10 competing in this event, is four-under through 16 holes. Defending champion Len Mattiace stands on five-under with one hole remaining.
Great Danes Set the Pace
at French Open
In Guyancourt, France, golf’s equivalent of the Viking raiders were at it again yesterday with Thomas Bjorn and Anders Hansen grabbing the early second round lead in the French Open.
The northerners have been a growing force in European golf for some years now with Bjorn their spearhead and it was one of their number, Soren Kjeldsen, who won last week’s Diegeo Championships at Gleneagles.
On the back of that, Bjorn had a tidy opening two-under 70, but he really caught fire Friday with a magnificent 64 which included nine birdies leaving him atop the leaderboard at 10-under halfway through the second round.
Bjorn, a two-time Ryder Cup winner, says that in what is essentially an individual sport, the Danes also feed off each other. “We got into a situation last year where a lot of Danish players were doing well and with four wins we got into a situation where we felt comfortable and felt we could almost walk on water,” he said.
“We have a generation of Danish players that are very good. We have four players who work very hard. That’s the way we used to look at the Swedes.
“They were very determined, hard workers and really got out there and did the job.”
