Stadler, Percy top Houston Open leaderboard

[April 20, 2010]  HUMBLE, Texas (AP) -- Although Kevin Stadler and Cameron Percy finished with the same score to share the first-round lead at the Houston Open, Percy dealt with much tougher conditions.

Stadler teed off in the morning, long before the winds started gusting, and surged to 6 under with four straight birdies on the back nine. He settled for a 67 after a bogey on the last hole.

Vaughn Taylor and James Driscoll -- Stadler's playing partners in a morning threesome -- were a stroke back along with fellow morning starter Kevin Sutherland and Anthony Kim, who played in the afternoon when the wind picked up.

"We had a good time out there," Stadler said. "I was kind of kicking back, watching those guys make putts most of the day. I made a few late to kind of catch up to them."

Percy began his round more than an hour after Stadler finished. The winds were whipping flags at the Tournament Course at Redstone by then, and affecting every shot the players hit, including their putts.

"I thought it was going to die down," Percy said, "but it never did."

Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and 2007 champion Adam Scott were topped a group two strokes back at 69.

Ernie Els, coming off consecutive victories at Doral and Bay Hill, opened with 70. Fred Couples, who has won three straight starts on the Champions Tour, shot a 71.

Several top players have come to Houston because they view the Redstone course as an ideal dry run for next week's Masters. Organizers have groomed the 7,457-yard layout to simulate the conditions at Augusta National, with fast greens, shaved mounds, light rough and the fairways mowed toward the tee.

Harrington said now that the tournament has started, the players are focused on winning more than fine-tuning their games.

"It's all about trying to win the Houston Open," he said. "Augusta can wait three more days."

Kim was tied for the lead after making three straight birdies on his back nine, then finished with an adventurous bogey on the difficult 18th. Kim drove into the water, then hit his third shot off a corporate suite and over the water-guarded green. He pulled off a spectacular pitch over the massive greenside bunker, and the ball stopped 2 feet away.

"I didn't like my chances there," Kim said. "I was looking right at the water and looked like the sand was pretty soft. So if I didn't hit it perfectly, it's going to be in one of those two spots."

Stadler, Taylor and Driscoll said they fed off each other, and they finished with six birdies apiece.

Taylor birdied five of his first eight holes, sinking a 47-fooer on No. 3 and a 23-footer on No. 6. Driscoll made the turn at 2 under, then birdied three of his first five holes on the back nine to move within a shot of Taylor's lead.

Stadler then surged to 6 under with four straight birdies on the back nine. He settled for a 67 after a bogey on the last hole.

The water-lined, 472-yard 18th was the hardest hole in the first round, playing to a 4.413-stroke average.

Defending champion Paul Casey withdrew Thursday morning because of a left shoulder injury. The 32-year-old Englishman called it "just a one-week thing" and won't keep him out of next week's Masters.

Vijay Singh withdrew with a back injury after playing nine holes, the third time in three weeks that he's pulled out of a tournament.

[Associated Press; By CHRIS DUNCAN]

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