Sutherland, Warren share lead at FBR Open

2008-02-01

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SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA (TICKER) -- Kevin Sutherland and Charles Warren are tied for the lead at the FBR Open.

Both players completed the first round on Thursday at 6-under-par 65 and share a one-shot lead. A 40-minute frost delay pushed back the start of play, and the round eventually was suspended due to darkness.

Both first- and second-round play at the $6 million event will begin at 7:40 a.m. local time on Friday.

Rich Beem, Brian Gay and Camilo Villegas are tied for third at 5-under 66. Nick O'Hern also is at 5-under with four holes left in the first round.

A group of seven golfers, including Kenny Perry and Charles Howell III, are at 4-under, and another 21 players are another shot back.

Phil Mickelson is in that group at 3-under along with K.J. Choi, Woody Austin and Rory Sabbatini.

A two-time winner here, Mickelson had a pair of bogeys on his first seven holes before catching fire with three birdies and an eagle.

He parred his final six holes, but Mickelson still was happy to have overcome his early miscues.

"I didn't get off to a great start today, bogeying two par-5s on the back. That's really where you've got to score," Mickelson said. "Fortunately, I was able to turn it around. I made a birdie on 17 and had a good stretch on one, two and three, where I went birdie, birdie, eagle, and that was the round right there.

"I tried to get a couple more coming in, missed some good opportunities, but I'll take it because where I was at, it didn't look good."

Defending champion Aaron Baddeley is 1-over with two holes to play.

Warren started hot with three birdies on his first four holes before cooling off. He carded his first birdie on the back nine at No. 12 and added birdies at 15 and 17 to grab a share of the lead.

"Obviously, you want to get off to a good start, and this is the kind of golf course where the scores are going to be low," Warren said. "I knew going into the week that you've got to make a lot of birdies and you've got to give yourself a lot of chances, but there's plenty of holes out there where you can make bogey pretty easily.

"I did a good job of navigating the golf course today and putting the ball in the right positions without giving myself a lot of chances for mistakes."

Sutherland also had a bogey-free round. And like Warren, he had a dry spell in the middle of his round before a strong finish.

Starting his round on the 10th, Sutherland carded a birdie on his first hole and added birdies at 13 and 15 before making the turn. He finally added a birdie at the fifth and closed his round with consecutive birdies at Nos. 8 and 9.

"I played very well. I putted very well," Sutherland said. "In the middle of the round, I really struggled hitting the ball. But I just kept making some putts for par and then all of a sudden, it clicked again and I started hitting the ball good again. Who knows why that happens, but the one thing I did do well all day is I putted well."