GRAND BLANC, Michigan, 2 August 2003 — Mike Sposa, a lowly 141st on the PGA Tour money list, hit a seven-under-par 65 to snatch a one-shot lead after the first round of the $4 million Buick Open on Thursday.
Carl Paulson, David Sutherland, New Zealand’s Craig Perks and Paul Gow of Australia shared second place on 66.
Shaun Micheel, Australia’s Stuart Appleby, Thomas Levet of France, Neal Lancaster, Kent Jones, Chris DiMarco, Garrett Willis, Heath Slocum, Hunter Mahan and Jason Buha were all a stroke further back on 67.
US Open winner Jim Furyk and British Open champion Ben Curtis led a group of 12 players on four-under 68 while world number one and defending champion Tiger Woods carded a 69.
Sposa, 34, teed off in the second group of the morning and was out in a one-under 35 at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club. He then enjoyed a purple patch on the back nine, playing holes 10 through 14 in five-under with three birdies and an eagle.
The eagle came at the par-four 12th when he holed out from 110 yards with a wedge.
Sposa, yet to win on the tour, said he had been encouraged by the run of unlikely champions in recent weeks.
Curtis won the British Open two weeks ago while Craig Stadler and Peter Jacobsen have become the sixth and seventh oldest players to win PGA Tour events.
Curtis, the PGA Tour rookie who is making his first start since winning at Sandwich, began on the back nine and went out in a three-under 33. He added two more birdies before a bogey at the par-three eighth dropped him back to four-under for the day.
Paulson was paired with Sposa and said the two fed off each other’s momentum.
Woods, who earlier this week switched drivers from a Nike to an old Titleist because he was not shaping his tee shots the way he wanted, hit only eight of 14 fairways.
Dougherty Moves Three Clear — Thanks to Faldo
In Malmo, Sweden, Britain’s Nick Dougherty, boosted by help from compatriot Nick Faldo, moved three clear of the field after the Scandinavian Masters second round yesterday.
Dougherty, in a three-way tie for the lead overnight, fired a three-under-par 69 to finish on eight-under 136 at Barsebeck.
Tied for second were Dougherty’s 2001 Walker Cup teammate Luke Donald, who shot a 68, British veteran Mark James (70) and Dutchman Maarten Lafeber (71).
Sweden’s Robert Karlsson raised the gallery’s hopes of a home winner by moving into a share of fifth place, four shots off the lead, after carding a 69.
Level with Karlsson was fellow Swede Peter Hedblom, who returned a second successive 70 after losing his second playoff of the year last week when Michael Campbell won the Irish Open.
The 21-year-old Dougherty has been groomed by Faldo and the six-times major champion’s advice helped the Englishman to bounce back from a poor spell, exacerbated by glandular fever.
Dougherty had missed six cuts in seven events until he finally began to shake off the effects of his illness last week, finishing 66th at the Irish Open.
The Englishman, one of Europe’s bright young hopes for a 2004 Ryder Cup place, praised Faldo for getting him through his sticky patch.
“I think he understood that things were getting depressing for me and he guided me through,” Dougherty said.
“He told me I had to go through lows like that to appreciate the highs.
“Nick is also great with diets and he told me I’ve got to cut out the McDonalds and stop drinking three or four pints of Coke a day.”
Surprise contender James, who becomes a senior tour player when he turns 50 in October, played down his own chances in Malmo. “Hopefully I can build towards turning 50 but, at the moment, I’m one-hundred-and-fifty-miserable-seventh (in fact, 165th on the money list),” he said.
“I’ve got to get a good finish in the bag before I can consider I’m playing well enough.”
The 1999 Ryder Cup captain chaired the European Tour players committee that voted Germany’s Bernhard Langer for the 2004 captaincy last week.
Langer, one of the late starters on Friday, carded a 71 to finish five off the pace, level with joint first-round leader David Gilford, who faded to a 74.
Scotland’s Andrew Coltart, the third of the pacesetters on day one, fared even worse, slipping into a tie for 28th after a 76.
