CROMWELL, Conn. -- Brendan Steele changed his putter and ended up equaling the lowest round of his career at the Travelers Championship.
Steele shot an 8-under 62 on Thursday morning that stood up for a one-stroke lead in the first round at TPC River Highlands.
Defending-champion Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) found himself in contention after the first round. Duke birdied two of the first three holes, eagled the 13th, then added birdies on the 16th and 18th on his way to a 5-under 65.
Duke, who won for the first time on the PGA Tour last year at the Travelers, is three shots behind Steele and is in tie for ninth with six other players, including Sergio Garcia and Brandt Snedeker.
Steele opened with an eagle, holing a 129-yard wedge shot in the rain. He birdied six of the next 12 holes, and closed the bogey-free round with five consecutive pars.
Steele went from a long to a short putter while trying to qualify for the U.S. Open, and though he missed that tournament, he said the change seems to be paying off. He needed just 26 putts Thursday.
"Speed control is a lot better," he said.
Steele finished two shots off the course record set by Patrick Cantlay in 2011 as an amateur.
"On 14, I started to think 59, which is probably why I slowed down a little bit," Steele said.
Bud Cauley and Ryan Moore shot 63, and Chad Campbell, Joe Durant, Scott Langley, Eric Axley and Jeff Maggert followed at 64.
Former Stanford stars Patrick Rodgers and Cameron Wilson made their pro debuts, with Rodgers shooting a 66, and Wilson a 73. Rodgers, who was the medalist at last summer's Western Amateur at The Alotian Club in Roland, won 11 college tournaments and this year's Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus awards as the nation's top college player. Wilson won the NCAA individual title.
Two-time heart transplant recipient Erik Compton, coming off a second-place tie in the U.S. Open, had a 74.
Steele and Cauley went out in a steady rain Thursday morning, but by noon the sun had broken through.
"It took the rain pretty well," said Masters champion Bubba Watson, who shot a 67 and was among 75 players to break par. "It's kind of soft, but not too windy, so you can score around it."
Trevor Immelman had the shot of the day, making a double eagle from 246 yards on the par-5 13th hole. He used a 3-wood and cleared a green-side water hazard.
"The main thing is to keep it dry," he said. "You got to get it over there, and it came out pretty good and started rolling."
Immelman also had three bogeys in his round of 68.
Louis Oosthuizen withdrew after seven holes because of back issues.
WEB.COM
Cappelen off to good start
WICHITA, Kan. -- Aaron Watkins fired a bogey-free 63 Thursday afternoon to take a one-stroke lead at the Air Capital Classic.
The former Kansas State Wildcat made five birdies on the back nine for a 30 on the newly converted par-70 Crestview Country Club.
Georgia Tech's Ollie Schniederjans, two-time Air Capital Classic champion Brad Elder and Australia's Gavin Coles carded 6-under 64.
Six players are tied for fifth after a 5-under 65, including sponsor's pick Brock Mackenzie, Blayne Barber and Canada's Albin Choi.
Sebastian Cappelen (Arkansas Razorbacks), playing in his first professional tournament, had 5 birdies and 1 bogey on his way to an opening-round 4 under and is 3 shots back.
EUROPEAN PGA
McIlroy struggles at Irish
CORK, Ireland -- Finland's Mikko Illonen shot a 7-under-par 64 to set a new course record Thursday as crowd favorite Rory McIlroy struggled on the opening day of the Irish Open.
Illonen birdied five of his closing seven holes in superb morning conditions on the Fota Island course in Cork and took a three-stroke clubhouse lead over Italy's Edoardo Molinari and England's Matthew Baldwin, who were the next best among the early finishers.
McIlroy hit just eight of the 14 fairways and took 30 putts in a round of three-over 74.
Sports on 06/20/2014