Villegas grabs PGA lead

2008-09-06 12:49

New York - Colombian Camilo Villegas fired a five-under par 65 on Friday to grab a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the &7m US PGA BMW Championship.

Villegas fired eight birdies but suffered back-to-back bogeys at nine and 10 and took another on the 18th to trim his lead over the field in half.

Sharing second on 66 were Australian Stuart Appleby, Argentina's Andres Romero and Americans Steve Stricker, Kenny Perry and Tim Herron.

South African Tim Clark, Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson and Americans Dudley Hart, Chez Reavie and Brian Gay are another stroke back.

Villegas, fourth at last month's PGA Championship, still seeks his first PGA career title in his 86th tournament.

Villegas opened with a birdie and began a run of four in a row starting at the fifth hole. He answered his bogeys at the turn with birdies at 11, 14 and 16 before closing with a bogey.

"I hit a lot of great shots out there, gave myself a lot of birdie putts," the South American standout said.

"Unfortunately I finished with a bogey but I'll be back tomorrow and hopefully put another good number on the board."

Showers wiped out Thursday's scheduled opening round, prompting tournament officials to plan for 36 holes on Saturday in order to complete the event on time and at full length.

Fiji's Vijay Singh, the runaway leader in the PGA playoffs, fired a 70.

Singh stands little chance of being overtaken for the season-ending title and a $10m bonus no matter how he fares in this penultimate event that will decide the 30 qualifiers for the Tour Championship later this month.

Stricker, named to the US Ryder Cup team on Tuesday as a captain's pick at age 41, showed the benefits of the work he has done to win a place on the squad that will face holders Europe in two weeks at Louisville, Kentucky.

"I've been working hard trying to get on this Ryder Cup team, trying to get my game going in anticipation of that," Stricker said.

"It was a little easier to play because the last two weeks I've been kind of on pins and needles, just wanting to get that process with the Ryder Cup over with, one way or the other. I could definitely feel the difference."

Stricker fired five birdies, including one at the 18th, and only one bogey in the round.

- AFP