Couples catches Lehman

Fred Couples was delighted with his putting

Click here for leading scores

Fred Couples shot a nine under-par 63 to tie Tom Lehman for the first-round lead in the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas.

Couples, who has not won since 1998, credited his performance to a new putter.

"I don't want to say I had the yips, but my stroke wasn't as solid as it should be," Couples said.

"I needed to be better on the greens, that's the bottom line."

Both Couples and Lehman made nine birdies and no bogeys, though they played different courses.

Couples played the easier Southern Highlands course, while Lehman played at the TPC at Summerlin.

For Lehman, his round was a continuation of the kind of play he has enjoyed at home in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he shot a 60 and a 63 while taking a seven-week break.

"Today was kind of a carry-over from that," Lehman said. "I'm definitely mentally fresh."

Four players - Craig Parry, Rory Sabbatini, Joe Ogilvie and Tom Pernice Jr. - finished the day one-shot behind Couples and Lehman.

Steve Flesch, Bob Estes and Jim Carter, meanwhile, all finished the day on 65.

"These aren't the hardest courses," Couples said.

"Obviously, I'm surprised at 63, but very excited how I putted the ball."

---

Leading scores:

(9-under) 63 Fred Couples, Tom Lehman
(8-under) 64 Craig Perry (Australia), Rory Sabbatini (South Africa), Joe Ogilvie, Tom Pernice Jr
(7-under) 65 Steve Flesch, Jim Carter, Bob Estes
(6-under) 66 Charles Howell III, Rich Beem, Robert Allenby (Australia), Jason Gore, Skip Kendall
(5-under) 67 Scott Verplank, Robert Damron, Russ Cochran, Pete Jordan, Greg Chalmers (Australia), Robin Freeman, Glen Day, Cameron Beckman, Andrew Magee, Kent Jones, Brian Gay, Shigeki Maruyama (Japan), John Daly

Selected Others:

(4-under) 68 Andrew McLardy (Zimbabwe), Ian Leggatt (Canada), Fulton Allem (South Africa)
(3-under) 68 Stephen Ames (Trinidad and Tobago), 69 Jose Coceres (Argentina), David Frost (South Africa), Jesper Parnevik (Sweden), David Morland IV (Canada)
(1-under) 70 Stuart Appleby (Australia), Grant Waite (New Zealand)
(Even) 71 Kaname Yokoo (Japan), Gabriel Hjertstedt (Sweden), 72 Paul Gow (Australia),
(1-over) 72 Per-Ulrik Johansson (Sweden), Stephen Allan (Australia)
(2-over) 74 Bradley Hughes (Australia), Craig Perks (New Zealand)
(3-over) 74 Ben Ferguson (Australia), 75 Geoff Ogilvy (Australia), Mathew Goggin (Australia)
(5-over) 77 Richie Coughlan (Ireland)

Back to top