GOLF ROUNDUP : Rintoul Parlays Hot Putter, Early Start Into Houston Lead

Steve Rintoul has struggled with his putter, so starting the first round of the Houston Open with two birdies Thursday was exactly what he needed.

Rintoul, who has never won on the PGA Tour, added four more birdies for a six-under-par 66 and a one-shot lead over five golfers.

He played his round early in the day and then watched as others tried to beat his score. A par-saving 10-foot putt after blasting from a bunker on No. 10 kept his momentum going.

“The last month, I’ve been plagued by bad putting, but today I got started with a couple of good putts and I just stayed with it for the whole round,” he said.

Peter Jacobsen, the tour’s leading money winner, is in the group one shot behind that includes hometown favorite Billy Ray Brown, Wayne Levi, John Cook and Jim Furyk.

Jacobsen has won two tournaments, finished second twice and third once.

“There have been times in my career as with a lot of other people’s careers where you’ll play three or four weeks,” he said. “But . . . I’ve never played this good this long.”

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Dottie Mochrie, Colleen Walker and Kris Tschetter each shot six-under-par 66 to share the first-round lead in the $1.2-million Sprint Championship at Daytona Beach, Fla.

Sixty-two golfers from the field of 144 broke par on the new course that’s part of the LPGA’s national headquarters.

Tschetter did not have a bogey and had six birdies in a round in which she hit only six fairways.