AVONDALE, La. - Ricky Barnes said he still owes his newborn daughter a late birthday present.
Perhaps a piece of silver would be appropriate.
Barnes birdied six of the last eight holes Thursday at rain-softened TPC Louisiana to take a one-stroke lead at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which awards a silver cup to the winner.
Barnes finished the opening round with an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey for an 8-under-par 64. Boo Weekley and Lucas Glover were a stroke back, and D.A. Points and Morgan Hoffmann shot 66.
“Today it was nice because it was a pretty stress-free round,” said Barnes, who did not arrive in New Orleans until late Wednesday afternoon after the birth of his daughter Monday night. “I think I only had to chip once in 18 holes so that’s nice.”
Former Arkansas Razorback Tag Ridings shot a 70 with three birdies and a bogey, as did Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State).
Guan Tianlang, the 14-yearold Chinese amateur playing on a sponsor exemption, opened with an even-par 72, highlighted by a 5-wood that he hit to a foot on the par-3 17th.
“I think I played pretty good golf,” Tianlang said. “Not the best but I made some ups and downs and a couple birdies.”
He tied for 58th in the Masters after becoming the youngest player to make the cut at Augusta National, and said Thursday that he will play in a U.S. Open qualifier in two weeks in Dallas.
Ernie Els and Rickie Fowler head a group of 10 players at 5 under.
Defending champion Jason Dufner shot 70, and 2011 winner Bubba Watson had a 73. David Lingmerth (Razorbacks) also shot a 73 with a birdie and double bogey. Scott Gardiner (Farmington) was another two strokes back, and had two birdies and five bogeys.
Eighty-four players were at 1 under or better on the rain-softened TPC tract, with 30 players within 4 shots of the lead. Heavy rains that spawned at least two tornadoes in the New Orleans area Wednesday left TPC’s normally firm greens soft and defenseless.
Players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairways, which especially benefited the later players after an early mist gave way to sunny and ideal scoring conditions.
Barnes missed the cuts in seven of his past eight events. He jump-started his round with the eagle on the par-5 second hole, hitting a 3-wood from 294 yards to 12 feet.
LPGA TOUR Rookie in front
IRVING, Texas - LPGA Tour rookie Caroline Masson shot a bogey-free 7-under-par 64 to take a two-stroke lead over Carlota Ciganda after the first round of the inaugural North Texas LPGA Shootout.
Inbee Park, the No. 1 women’s player in the world, was in a group at 67.
While Masson has made only one of five cuts in her first LPGA season, the 23-yearold German played on the Ladies European Tour the past three years and won the 2012 South African Women’s Open. She closed with a curling putt from about 18 feet on the ninth hole, her longest birdie putt of the day.
Ciganda, from Spain, was the top rookie and top money winner on the European tour last year.
Taylor Coleman, a 16-yearold high school sophomore from San Antonio, shot 68.
Second-ranked Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks), from The Woodlands near Houston, had a 72 with four birdies and five bogeys. Stacy Prammanasudh (Conway) shot a 74 with a birdie and four bogeys. Karen Stupples (Arkansas State) finished with a 79 with 2 birdies, 6 bogeys and 2 double bogeys.
EUROPEAN TOUR Five share lead
SEOUL, South Korea - France’s Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, Sweden’s Johan Edfors, Australia’s Kieran Pratt, South Korea’s Kim Gi-whan and England’s Matthew Baldwin shot 5-under-par 67 to share the lead in the suspended first round of the fog-delayed Ballantine’s Championship.
WEB.COM
Spears avoids bogeys
VALDOSTA, Ga. - A bogey-free round put Ryan Spears on top of the South Georgia Classic on Thursday.
Spears had six birdies in his 6-under-par 66 putting him a stroke ahead of Phillip Pettitt Jr., Troy Merritt and Bhavik Patel.
John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) almost finished his round without a blemish, too, but double-bogeyed the 15th hole. He also had four birdies for a 70. Ron Whittaker (Little Rock) was another stroke back, and had three birdies and two bogeys. Brendan Pappas (Razorbacks) shot a 74 with two birdies and four bogeys.
Thursday’s scoresPGA Zurich Classic of New Orleans At TPC Louisiana Avondale, La.
Purse: $6.6 million Par 72, 7,425 yards First of four rounds a-denotes amateur 64 (-8) Ricky Barnes ........................34-30 65 (-7) Boo Weekley ........................32-33 Lucas Glover ........................31-34 66 (-6) D.A. Points ...........................33-33 Morgan Hoffmann ...............31-35 67 (-5) Charlie Beljan .......................32-35 Matt Jones ...........................31-36 Luke Guthrie .........................34-33 Ernie Els ...............................34-33 Rickie Fowler ........................32-35 Billy Horschel .......................32-35 Chris Kirk..............................33-34 Stephen Ames ......................31-36 Jimmy Walker ......................34-33 Bobby Gates .........................32-35 68 (-4) Matt Every ............................34-34 Harris English .......................36-32 Graham DeLaet ....................36-32 Jason Kokrak .......................33-35 Kevin Stadler ........................34-34 Jason Bohn ..........................33-35 Brian Davis ...........................33-35 Justin Rose ..........................33-35 Gary Woodland ....................32-36 Tommy Gainey .....................33-35 J.J. Henry .............................34-34 Trevor Immelman.................33-35 Chad Campbell .....................34-34 Chris DiMarco ......................35-33 James Driscoll .....................34-34 69 (-3) Nick Watney .........................34-35 Bob Estes .............................33-36 Keegan Bradley ....................33-36 Scott Brown .........................35-34 Justin Bolli............................36-33 70 (-2) Ken Duke ..................... 35-35 Tag Ridings .................. 35-35 Jason Dufner ........................35-35 Stuart Appleby .....................35-35 Sean O’Hair ..........................34-36 Brandt Jobe ..........................38-32 Greg Chalmers .....................36-34 Doug LaBelle II .....................37-33 Alistair Presnell ....................36-34 D.H. Lee................................35-35 Andrew Svoboda ..................33-37 Jin Park ................................34-36 Jerry Kelly ............................35-35 Brendan Steele .....................36-34 Nicolas Colsaerts .................33-37 Ryan Palmer.........................34-36 Richard H. Lee .....................34-36 Jeff Maggert .........................36-34 Chris Stroud .........................33-37 Steve LeBrun ........................35-35 Lee Williams .........................34-36 Brad Fritsch ..........................38-32 71 (-1) D.J. Trahan ...........................37-34 Fabian Gomez ......................38-33 Chez Reavie ..........................35-36 Nicholas Thompson .............34-37 Jonas Blixt ............................37-34 Rory Sabbatini .....................35-36 Retief Goosen.......................36-35 David Lynn ...........................35-36 Jeff Gove ..............................35-36 Brian Stuard .........................35-36 Charley Hoffman ..................36-35 Rod Pampling ......................35-36 Billy Mayfair .........................35-36 Aaron Watkins ......................36-35 Jim Herman .........................35-36 Shawn Stefani ......................36-35 Cameron Percy ....................35-36 Luke List ...............................35-36 John Senden ........................34-37 Cameron Tringale .................35-36 Scott Stallings ......................35-36 James Hahn .........................38-33 Roberto Castro .....................35-36 David Hearn..........................34-37 Henrik Norlander ..................37-34 John Peterson ......................37-34 Zack Fischer .........................35-36 72 (E) John Merrick ........................36-36 David Toms ..........................35-37 Kyle Stanley ..........................37-35 Michael Bradley ....................36-36 Mike Weir .............................37-35 Joey Snyder III .....................36-36 Brendon de Jonge ................33-39 Martin Flores ........................34-38 Patrick Reed .........................36-36 Matt Fast ..............................37-35 Michael Letzig ......................37-35Hunter Haas .........................37-35 Erik Compton .......................38-34 Charlie Wi .............................37-35 Jesper Parnevik ....................36-36 Justin Hicks ..........................36-36 Josh Teater ...........................36-36 Colt Knost .............................36-36 Scott Langley .......................39-33 a-Guan Tianlang ...................37-35 Eric Meierdierks ...................37-35 73 (+1) Camilo Villegas.....................36-37 Lee Janzen ...........................38-35 Jeff Overton ..........................36-37 Aaron Baddeley ....................39-34 Bubba Watson ......................36-37 Justin Leonard .....................36-37 Joe Ogilvie ............................38-35 Charles Howell III .................38-35 Steven Bowditch ..................34-39 Marcel Siem .........................36-37 Peter Tomasulo ....................36-37 Ken Looper ...........................37-36 Ross Fisher ..........................37-36 Kevin Sutherland ..................37-36 David Lingmerth ..................37-36 Robert Streb .........................35-38 Seung-Yul Noh .....................38-35 Thorbjorn Olesen .................37-36 Derek Ernst...........................37-36 74 (+2) Tim Herron ...........................38-36 Gary Christian ......................39-35 Scott Piercy ..........................36-38 Robert Allenby .....................38-36 Johnson Wagner ..................38-36 Ben Crane .............................36-38 Brian Harman .......................37-37 Darron Stiles ........................39-35 George McNeill ....................40-34 Casey Wittenberg .................38-36 Jon Curran ...........................38-36 Shane Lowry ........................38-36 75 (+3) Scott Gardiner ............... 37-38 LPGA North Texas Shootout At Las Colinas Country Club Irving, Texas Purse: $1.3 million Par 71, 6,410 yards (a-amateur) First of four rounds 64 (-7) Caroline Masson ..................32-32 66 (-5) Carlota Ciganda ....................34-32 67 (-4) Mi Jung Hur .........................35-32 Felicity Johnson ...................34-33 Mo Martin ............................36-31 Kristy McPherson ................36-31 Inbee Park ............................33-34 68 (-3) a-Taylor Coleman .................37-31 Christina Kim........................34-34 Hee Young Park ...................34-34 69 (-2) Moira Dunn ..........................34-35 Haeji Kang ............................34-35 Jessica Korda .......................34-35 Azahara Munoz ....................35-34 Angela Stanford ...................35-34 Yani Tseng ............................33-36 70 (-1) Karlin Beck ...........................37-33 Na Yeon Choi .......................36-34 Kathleen Ekey .......................36-34 Veronica Felibert ..................34-36 Julieta Granada ....................35-35 Marcy Hart ...........................34-36 Vicky Hurst ...........................35-35 Sara Maude Juneau .............36-34 Cristie Kerr ...........................37-33 I.K. Kim.................................33-37 Brittany Lincicome ...............35-35 Kayla Mortellaro ...................35-35 Suzann Pettersen .................37-33 ARKANSANS 72 (+1) Stacy Lewis ..........................39-33 74 (+3) Stacy Prammanasudh .........38-36 79 (+8) Karen Stupples .....................37-42 EUROPEAN Ballantine’s Championship At Blackstone Resort course Seoul, South Korea Purse: $2.88 million Par 72, 7,281 yards First of four rounds Suspended due to darkness 67 (-5) Jean-Baptiste Gonnet ...........32-35 Johan Edfors ........................31-36
Kieran Pratt ..........................35-32
Kim Gi-whan ........................35-32
Matthew Baldwin .................34-33 68 (-4)
Peter Lawrie .........................33-35
Lee Jung-Hwan ....................35-33 WEB.COM
South Georgia
At Kinderlou Forest Golf Club
Valdosta, Ga.
Purse: $650,000
Par 72, 7,781 yards
First of four rounds 66 (-6)
Ryan Spears .........................33-33 67 (-5)
Philip Pettitt, Jr. ....................33-34
Troy Merritt ..........................31-36
Bhavik Patel ..........................34-33 68 (-4)
Ariel Canete ..........................33-35
Dusty Fielding ......................34-34
Tyrone Van Aswegen ...........33-35
Woody Austin.......................36-32
Duffy Waldorf .......................35-33
Will MacKenzie .....................34-34
Alexandre Rocha ..................32-36
Scott Gutschewski ...............34-34 69 (-3)
Daniel Chopra.......................35-34
Byron Smith .........................36-33
Mathew Goggin ....................33-36
Chesson Hadley ...................33-36
Adam Mitchell ......................34-35
Adam Hadwin .......................36-33
Andrew D. Putnam ..............37-32
Hudson Swafford .................36-33
Michael Putnam ...................34-35
Jason Gore ...........................34-35
Ben Martin ............................34-35
Sung Kang............................35-34
Andrew Loupe ......................33-36
Nick Rousey .........................34-35
Corey Nagy ...........................35-34
Wes Roach ...........................35-34 70 (-2)
John Daly .................... 34-36
Camilo Benedetti ..................33-37
Edward Loar .........................35-35
D.J. Brigman ........................33-37
George Bryan .......................35-35
Brent Witcher .......................35-35
Benjamin Alvarado ...............34-36
Lee Bedford ..........................36-34
Brett Wetterich .....................34-36
Miguel Angel Carballo ..........34-36
Jonathan Hodge ...................35-35
Si Woo Kim ..........................35-35 71 (-1)
Ron Whittaker ............... 35-36
Roland Thatcher ...................34-37
J.J. Killeen ............................36-35
Randall Hutchison ................37-34
Derek Fathauer .....................34-37
Clodomiro Carranza .............37-34
Matt Moot ............................35-36
Steve Wheatcroft..................36-35
Skip Kendall .........................35-36
Aaron Goldberg ....................35-36
Danny Lee ............................35-36
Kevin Kisner .........................38-33
Arjun Atwal ...........................34-37
Roger Sloan .........................37-34
Eric Axley..............................35-36
Garth Mulroy ........................37-34
Kyle Reifers ..........................34-37
Jamie Lovemark...................36-35
Will Wilcox ...........................37-34
Jason Allred .........................35-36 72 (E)
Dawie van der Walt ..............38-34
Matt Bettencourt ..................37-35
Brendon Todd.......................36-36
Sam Saunders......................36-36
Jim Renner ...........................34-38
Shane Bertsch ......................37-35
Whee Kim .............................36-36
Aron Price ............................35-37
Marco Dawson .....................37-35
David Lipsky .........................36-36
Josh Broadaway...................37-35
Brian Prouty .........................34-38
Michael Sims .......................36-36
Martin Piller ..........................36-36
Patrick Wilkes-Krier .............36-36
Todd Baek .............................35-37
Scott McCarron ....................37-35
Billy Hurley III .......................36-36
Nick O’Hern ..........................36-36
Tim Petrovic .........................33-39
Scott Harrington ..................35-37
Oscar Fraustro .....................36-36
Zack Sucher .........................38-34
Dustin Bray ..........................34-38
Daniel Bowden .....................36-36 73 (+1)
Paul Claxton .........................37-36
Joe Affrunti ...........................35-38
Mark Anderson ....................38-35
Scott Sterling .......................36-37
Nick Flanagan .......................38-35
Gavin Coles ..........................34-39
Cliff Kresge ...........................36-37
Sports, Pages 20 on 04/26/2013