Couples, Scott, Paulson one shot back
Associated Press
THE WOODLANDS, Texas (April 19) -- Joe Durant, riding a hot putter, and Lee Janzen, using a late charge, shot 5-under 67s Thursday and shared a one-shot lead after the first round of the Shell Houston Open.
Former University of Houston golfer Fred Couples delighted the gallery with a 68 and was tied for third with Adam Scott and Carl Paulson.
Durant made a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-4 seventh and ran in two others from about 20 feet. His final birdie putt came from 15 feet on the final hole, the same distance he made his first one from on No. 2.
"I putted as well as I putted all year today," Durant said. "I hit the ball in play, but I never got it really close a lot of times, but I just made a bunch of putts.
"At this time last year if I'd have hit like this, I'd have probably shot over par. But I was able to save some good pars early in the round and then I made a few putts I wouldn't have made last year."
After missing the cut in his season debut at the Tucson Open, Durant shot par or better in 24 of his next 26 rounds and at one point had straight 19 rounds in red numbers. That hot run included victories at the Bob Hope Classic and the Genuity Championship and a tie for fifth at the Honda Classic.
Durant missed the cut at The Masters but started getting back on track with three good rounds at last week's Worldcom Classic.
Janzen, who began on the back nine, overcame a rough start. He had bogeys on two of his first five holes but he had three straight birdies starting at the par-4 ninth where he made a 35-foot putt.
"I played today like I had confidence," Janzen said. "When I took out a club, I felt I was doing the right thing. Coming up on the last tee, I knew I was tied for the lead and it felt good."
Janzen hit a 7-iron 25 feet from the hole on the par-4 fifth and made the putt to gain a share of the lead.
Janzen missed the cut in his first three tournaments and attributed his slow start to cracking his favorite driver. It took awhile to get the right replacement.
"I used a different driver just about every round on the West Coast," Janzen said. "I think it affected the way I played because I didn't have the confidence off the tee."
Couples used an eagle on the par-5 15th hole to propel his way up the leaderboard to the delight of his large gallery at the TPC at The Woodlands course.
"I just want to get better, but I'm not sure how good that can be," said Couples, who is winless on the tour since 1998. "It would be a miracle to win the way I'm playing right now, but anything is possible."
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