Nationwide Tour Championship: First-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff LAKEVIEW, Calif. -- Michael Letzig, currently No. 26 on the money list, fired a tournament-record 11-under 60 Thursday to take a three-shot lead over Gary Christian and Tjaart van der Walt at the Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek. It is the third 60 posted on Tour this season, with all three coming in the first round (Brenden Pappas at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open and Chris Thompson at the Cox Classic). It represents the 13th 60 recorded in Tour history.  Michael Letzig has topped a first-round leaderboard three times this season. (Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
• Letzig has now held at least a share of the first-round lead on three occasions this season. He opened up with a 64 at the Rex Hospital Open and with a 66 at the Peek'n Peak Classic, but failed to break 70 in any of the remaining rounds to finish tied for 23rd in both events. • Nationwide Insurance and the PGA TOUR are donating $100 for every birdie recorded this week for a total donation of $200 per birdie. The money will be directed to the Red Cross Fire Relief Fund to help benefit the victims of last week's fires that raged through San Diego County and other parts of Southern California. On Thursday, there were a total of 257 birdies, resulting in a donation of $51,400. • The previous best round in Nationwide Tour Championship history was a 63, recorded by Jay Delsing (second round, 2002), Gary Christian (first round, 2007) and Tjaart van der Walt (first round, 2007). • Letzig's three-stroke lead equals the largest in Nationwide Tour Championship history, set previously by Perry Moss in 1998. Moss went on to finish in a tie for ninth that year, eight strokes behind Bob Burns. • Speaking of Burns, he is the only past champion of the Nationwide Tour Championship participating this week. He opened with a 3-under 68 and is tied for 21st. Should Burns win, he would become just the eighth player in Tour history to win the same event twice. • Brenden Pappas, currently on the bubble at the No. 25 position on the money list, shot a 5-under 66 and is in a tie for eighth place. His nearest pursuers include Letzig, 27th-ranked Tom Scherrer (66/tied for eighth), 28th-ranked Miguel Carballo (70/tied for 40th), 29th-ranked Franklin Langham (66/tied for eighth) and 30th-ranked B.J. Staten (65/tied for fifth). • The first-round leader has gone on to win three of 14 events at the Nationwide Tour Championship. Stewart Cink (1996), Steve Flesch (1997) and Bob Heintz (1999) were successful in carrying the first-day lead on to victory. • In 2007, the Nationwide Tour has had just three of 31 first-round leaders eventually step into the winner's circle, including Martin Laird (Athens Regional Foundation Classic), Kyle Thompson (Rex Hospital Open) and Franklin Langham (Utah EnergySolutions Championship). • The international flavor of the Nationwide Tour is in full view this week after round one of the Nationwide Championship at Barona Creek, with six different countries represented among the top 15 players on the leaderboard. In addition to nine players from the United States, other countries represented include South Africa (Pappas, van der Walt), England (Christian), Scotland (Laird), Wales (Johnson) and Argentina (Gomez). • Bogey-free rounds on Thursday were turned in by Michael Letzig (60), Gary Christian (63), Tjaart van der Walt (63), James Driscoll (64), Jim McGovern (65), Fabian Gomez (66), Peter Tomasulo (66), Franklin Langham (66) and Skip Kendall (68). • The first-round scoring average at the 7,328-yard, par-71 Barona Creek Golf Club was 68.161, the lowest average for a single round in Nationwide Tour Championship history. The only other sub-70 average in Tour Championship history came during the second round in 2004, with a 69.932 average being posted at the par-72 Senator Course in Prattville, Ala. • The toughest hole on Thursday was the 510-yard par-4 sixth hole with an average of 4.214, while the par-5 first hole played the easiest at 4.214. • Paul Claxton opened with a 1-over 72. He is making his eighth appearance at the Nationwide Tour Championship, tying him for the all-time lead with John Elliott. • There was a 45-minute fog delay at the beginning of the day, pushing back the first tee time to 8:53 a.m. |
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