Estes Leads With 65

Bob Estes shot a five-under-par 65 in windy conditions Thursday to take a two-stroke lead in the Colonial at Fort Worth.

Estes had a bogey-free round to match his best score of the year and finish two strokes ahead of a group of nine players. The former University of Texas player birdied the first two holes and also closed with two straight birdies.

“The winds were difficult, but I managed to combat the wind for the most part,” Estes said. “A lot of good shots didn’t turn out good, or some mis-hit ones turned out OK. It was difficult to pull the right club.”

The breeze was blowing as usual over the historic 7,080-yard layout known as Hogan’s Alley, but the 10-20 mph wind gusted throughout the day and swirled in different directions. Only 34 of the 124 players were able to break par.

David Duval, Steve Jones and Steve Lowery were at 67, along with Esteban Toledo, Scott Verplank, Bob Tway, Brandt Jobe, Frank Lickliter and Joel Edwards.

Lowery was four under through 10 holes and then had seven consecutive pars. But his round-ending bogey at the 402-yard ninth hole, when his approach found a bunker behind the green, dropped him out of sole possession of second place.

Sergio Garcia, playing as a defending champion on the PGA Tour for the first time, shot a 76.

He had with an eagle on his second hole, the 609-yard No. 11, but had eight bogeys and no birdies after that in his worst round of the year.

Tom Watson, who skipped this week’s Senior PGA Tour event, Corey Pavin and Carl Paulson were among 13 players at 68.

Pavin, who got the last of his 14 PGA Tour wins in the 1996 Colonial, had a hole in one on the 178-yard 13th.

*

Laura Davies heard last fall that Mount Vintage Plantation was her kind of course. She showed it Thursday, shooting a five-under 67 to take the first-round lead in the Asahi Ryokuken International at North Augusta, S.C.

Davies was scheduled to play in the inaugural tournament last September, but was overseas and pulled out of the LPGA’s first event after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“I heard all my friends who play here say it was very hilly, and then tell they thought it would really suit my game,” said Davies, who finished two shots ahead of Grace Park.

When Davies played in the pro-am, she knew she’d found a place to love.

“There’s no out of bounds. There’s very little water. I can stand up on the tee with confidence. And if I hit in the trees, you can find it and get it out,” she said.

Annika Sorenstam, coming off a victory last week in the Aerus Electrolux USA Championship, started with back-to-back birdies and finished with an even-par 72.