Knost leads by one at Price Cutter Charity Championship

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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Colt Knost fired an 8-under-par 64 and grabbed the first-round lead in the Nationwide Tour's Price Cutter Charity Championship. Knost rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on his closing hole for the 64 and a one-stroke lead over the Tour's leading money winner, Jarrod Lyle (65).

Colt Knost birdied seven of his final 11 holes on Thursday. (Martin/Getty Images

Inside the Numbers

Knost thru 18 Holes

Category Total Rank Eagles 0 N/A Birdies 9 1 Pars 8 T136 Bogeys 1 T102 Double Bogeys 0 N/A Other 0 N/A Driving Accuracy 78.6% T10 Driving Distance 316.5 yds. T82 Greens in Regulation 94.4% T1 Putts per Round 27.0 T21 Putts per GIR 1.471 6 Sand Saves 0 N/A

Vance Veazey, Sebastian Fernandez, Camilo Benedetti, Chad Ginn and Monday qualifier Webb Simpson all posted 66s during the morning wave at Highland Springs Country Club. Arjun Atwal, Michael Putnam, Peter Tomasulo, Josh Broadaway and Keith Nolan added 66s in the afternoon, creating a 10-way tie for third.

The 19th annual tournament, one of four originals remaining from the Tour's inaugural schedule in 1990, is considered a birdie-fest by the players, with winning scores ranging from 21 to 27 under par the past five seasons.

Knost, winner of the Fort Smith Classic in May and No. 20 on the money list, rolled in nine birdies during the round, giving him 18 in his last 36 holes. A week ago at the $1 million Nationwide Tour Players Cup in West Virginia, Knost found himself at 6 over par after seven holes of the second round and headed for a missed cut.

"After I triple-bogeyed No. 7, I figured I had to pretty much birdie out to have a chance," said Knost, who knew it was all or nothing at that point. "I told my caddie I want the number to the pin and that's it, let's go from there."

Knost birdied seven of his final 11 holes for a 68 but missed the 36-hole cut by a single stroke. He brought his newly aggressive mindset into this week's $600,000 event.

"Today I told myself the same thing -- be aggressive with the iron shots," he said after hitting 17 of 18 greens in regulation and posting his season-low total. "I'm a high percentage player, I guess. I make very few mistakes and just play the percentages. For me, I hit my irons well and so I need to be aggressive out here. Obviously, scores on the Nationwide Tour are really low and pars are really not that good."

Nobody has to tell Lyle about low scores. The 26-year old Australian has two victories to his credit this season and is No. 1 on the money list.

"This is the kind of course where you've got to make birdies," he said after making six birdies and an eagle. "If you're shooting par or even 1 or 2 under, you're backing up. You've got to be aggressive. The toughness of this golf course is where they're tucking these flags. There are a lot of flag being tucked behind bunkers, over water and in the corners so if you start missing the greens in the wrong spot, you'll struggle to get up and down."

Atwal had a chance to tie for the lead but plunked his second shot into the water at the par-5 closing 18th and failed to get up and down, making bogey instead of birdie.

"I had the yardage to go for it and I would have had to lay up with a sand wedge," said Atwal, who was 205 yards from the pin. "I pulled it just a little bit. It was the worst shot I hit all day. I'm not disappointed, I played well today."

Eleven more players are crammed together at 67, putting 23 players within three shots of the lead in the Missouri shootout.

"It's fun every once in a while," said Atwal of the anticipated birdie barrage. "We play enough tough golf courses where you have to grind it out. You get into the mindset knowing what the winning score is going to be and have fun with it."

First-Round Notes: Matt Every withdrew prior to the start of the round. He was replaced in the field by Trevor Dodds (75). ... Brian Smock withdrew during the round due to back problems. ... Bryan DeCorso (78) withdrew after the first round. ... The first-round scoring average was 70.426. A total of 122 players shot par-or-better scores. ... Leaders Colt Knost and Jarrod Lyle are making their first starts at Highland Springs Country Club. ... Webb Simpson made his Nationwide Tour debut today and opened with a 6-under 66. Simpson is a 2008 graduate of Wake Forest University, where he was an All-American. He was coached by Jerry Haas, a former Tour member who won this event in 1994. Simpson made his PGA TOUR debut in March, getting a sponsor exemption into the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, where he finished tied for 31st. Palmer also attended Wake Forest. Simpson turned pro in June and played in four other TOUR events, making the cut in two and missing the cut in his last two starts (Buick Open and last week's John Deere Classic).