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Singh takes 1st round lead at Houston Open
Fresh from inclusion in the World Golf Hall of Fame, Vijay Singh tied the course record with an 8-under-par 64 for a one-shot lead Thursday after the first round of the Houston Open.
The 42-year-old Fijian, No. 2 in the world rankings, extended his streak of par or better to 56 holes at the Redstone Golf Club, where he won this event a year ago.
Singh laughed when told of his bogey-free string going back to last year, when he finished 11 under and won by two shots.
After Singh came Australians Gavin Coles and Brendan Jones. Eight players were at 67. Six others, including John Daly, were another shot back.
Singh was announced Wednesday as the latest inductee into the Hall of Fame, although he said he learned three weeks ago the honor was coming, meaning it wasn't a distraction now.
"My focus this week is coming out here," he said.
Still, the recognition, both off and on the course Thursday, was appreciated.
"Every player out there said something about it, so that was good," Singh said.
So was his round.
Starting on the back nine, he had pars on four of his first five holes, then birdied 15, 16 and 17 and made the turn at 4-under. He finished the front side with a flurry, getting birdies on three of the last four holes.
"You sort of expect him to be there," said Coles, on pace to share the lead with Singh before he missed the green and landed in a bunker for a bogey at No. 17.
It was the only glitch in his round.
"That was a lot of fun," Coles said. "The balls were just going in from everywhere. It was tremendous. The first three holes, I had three putts over 20 feet and I made two of them. So, that was quite a nice start."
Then he had consecutive birdies at Nos. 5 and 6 and again at Nos. 8 and 9 to finish the front side 6 under at 29.
"Anything is possible, mate," Coles said of his chances for a first PGA Tour victory.
The 36-year-old player struggled as a rookie two years ago and wound up last year on the Nationwide Tour, finishing 20th in earnings and winning once. His best finish this year is a tie for 17th at Tucson.
The long, 7,500-yard Redstone layout leaves players who are not big hitters at a disadvantage, the 5-foot-4 Coles said. "I've just got to learn to forget all that stuff and go and play and hit it on the fairway and hit it on the green," he said. "If you look at the stats, it's the guy that putts the best and chips the best. It's not necessarily the guy that hits it the longest." But it was no surprise to him that the long-hitting Singh was in front. "To me, this course for Vijay is probably a great course for him," Coles said. "The greens are great to putt on and he's a great putter. The course is long where he's going to be hitting a lot of shorter irons into the green. That's why he's the second-best player in the world." This is only the 13th PGA Tour appearance for Jones, 30, whose best finish is a tie for 29th at the Nissan Open in February. He's 170th on this year's money list and last in putting, he noted. "When you're last in putting, you don't make a lot of money," he said. After starting his day with a birdie, he made the turn at 2-under, then clicked off five birdies to wrap up his 65. "It was a really nice feeling," he said. "It's not often I walk off the course these days smiling."
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