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Lakeville, MA---On a day in which thirty-two players broke
par, no one went lower than Matt Donovan during round one of the
2nd annual LeBaron Hills Open. Donovan fired a 6-under 66 to tie
the course record held by CGT alum Sean O'Hair, who won last
week's John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour. He stands one shot
ahead of a quartet of players, including CGT money leader Rob
Oppenheim. Defending champion Todd Westfall is tied for 6th
after an opening 69.
"One good round really doesn't mean
much," said an indifferent Donovan, who offset bogeys on
the 11th and 13th holes with eight birdies. "I still need
to go out there and pretend this didn't happen."
Oppenheim, who has a win and a second already
this year, might want to pretend he is playing the back nine
twice in the second round. After making the turn in a
disappointing even par, he blitzed the final nine in 5-under 31,
fueled by five birdies in seven holes beginning at the 10th.
He is joined at 5-under by Bill Link and Corey
Brigham, who have played their last two rounds on Tour 19-under
par collectively.
Brigham, the runner-up at the last event in
Atlantic City, played his final six holes 4-under, highlighted
by an eagle at the par-5 18th. He has now played his last two
rounds 13-under combined, a hot stretch he partly attributes to
Shannon Sykora, his playing companion in each round.
"I told him if we get paired together
again, I'm going to give him a big hug," Brigham said
afterward.
Link, who has traveled more than 2000 miles in
the last two weeks, narrowly missed two eagle putts, yet still
played LeBaron's four par 5s 4-under.
"I don't know what day it is," a tired
Link said afterward. "I've woken up three days this week
and thought, 'Where am I?' I'm just trying to get my
bearings."
The same holds true for Mike Harris, who won the
Vermont Open last month then followed that up with a six-stroke
win in the Michigan Open two weeks ago.
"I've been all over the place," said
Harris, whose opening 68 was anchored by five birdies in seven
holes starting on the par-4 6th. "But you've got to ride
out your hot streaks."
Harris shares 6th place with three other
players, including Scott Hawley, whose up and down round
included six birdies, an eagle and an unfortunate triple bogey
on the par-4 11th, the toughest hole on Tour in 2004.
"He made me look like a choir boy,"
said playing companion Jeff Martin, "and I had three
birdies and an eagle."
From a field of 100, only the top 38 players and
ties will survive Thursday's second round cut. This week's purse
of $86,400 includes a $13,000 winner's share.
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