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Sutherland, 58, went bogey-free at the first tournament of the
PGA Tour Champions' 2023 season, scoring birdies on four
straight holes at one point and tallying seven for the day.
His hot streak came on the final three holes of the front nine
and the first hole on the back nine.
"I played really good today, hit the ball really nice and I made
some putts," Sutherland said. "It's always nice to start the
year that way. Everybody's probably coming here a little bit
rusty, so you're just hoping to knock off some of the rust. Not
really sure where the game is, but my game feels really good
right now, I'm happy about that.
"I got here about a week ago so I got a chance to practice a
little bit and I was hitting the ball in the middle of the face
and it felt kind of good."
Clarke, who won this event in 2021, matched Sutherland by
scoring five birdies to go along with an eagle on the par-5 10th
hole.
He credited offseason work for the strong showing but felt he
could have done even better.
"Just trying to rotate a lot more and get through the golf ball
a little bit better," Clark said. "I had a little bit too much
curve on it right to left a few times. Going to go to the range
now and try and figure that out and hopefully be a little bit
better (on Friday)."
Five golfers are a stroke off the leaders' pace at 6 under, tied
for third place: Americans Corey Pavin and Justin Leonard,
Canada's Mike Weir, Germany's Alex Cejka and South Africa's
Ernie Els.
Tied for eighth at 5 under are Michael Allen, Spain's Miguel
Angel Jimenez and Germany's Bernhard Langer. Jimenez, 59, is the
reigning champion, having won the event for the third time last
year.
Last year's Champions Player of the Year, Steven Alker of New
Zealand, is in a tie for 17th after shooting a 3-under 69.
--Field Level Media
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