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Howell sets course mark at Avenel

Rich Beem lines up a putt on the 16th green with caddie Bill Heim. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Rich Beem lines up a putt on the 16th green with caddie Bill Heim. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Charles Howell III set a course record with a 10-under-par 61 — including a 28 on his final nine holes at the TPC at Avenel — and held a three-shot lead after the first round of the Booz Allen Classic at Potomac, Md.

On a perfect day with the wind calm and the greens soft and smooth, Howell carded the lowest opening-round score this year on the PGA Tour. It also was the second-lowest overall round of the season.

Howell went birdie-eagle-eagle on the three par-5s and made six putts of 15 feet or longer.

Scores were low all day. Seventy-six players were under par — exactly 76 more than broke even in Sunday’s brutal final round of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Howell finished his Open adventure with an 83.

Howell leads 1999 champion Rich Beem and Olin Browne by three strokes. Jeff Sluman is four back.

Howell’s round is one shot better than David Duval’s year-old course record. The 28 over nine holes tops the mark of 29 shared by Brad Bryant (1991) and Jay Williamson (2000).

LPGA

Kim Saiki took a step toward ending a winless run of 13 years on the LPGA Tour with a bogey-free 66 that gave her a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the Rochester tournament at Pittsford, N.Y.

Candie Kung was second after 18 holes on the par-72 Locust Hill course.

Juli Inkster was two shots back, one better than Rosie Jones, Se Ri Pak, Stephanie Louden, Becky Morgan and 17-year-old amateur Paula Creamer. She’s coming off a tie for second Monday in the ShopRite Classic.

Annika Sorenstam, who last played here in 2000, had some difficulty off the tee and shot a 72. She chipped in for birdie from about 50 feet on the par-3 seventh but some of her putts just slipped past the hole.

U.S. Women’s Public Links

Defending champion Michelle Wie and medalist Brittany Lang were among the winners during match play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at Williamsburg, Va.

Wie overcame a shaky putter with solid iron play in a 3 and 1 victory against Brooke Goodwin of Fuquay-Varina, N.C., while Lang beat Amber Jean Kuss of Koontz Lake, Ind., 5 and 4 in the day’s first match.

Other notable winners were No. 2 qualifier Jenna Pearson of Wheaton, Ill., 3 and 2 against Kansas Gooden of Harrisonburg, Va.; and Jane Park of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., a teammate of Wie and Lang on the victorious U.S. Curtis Cup team.