Tom Lehman and Bruce Vaughan both posted 7-under 65s to share the lead in Friday's first round of the Champions Tour's season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship.
Lehman, the Player of the Year last season on this US-based 50-years-and-over tour, birdied the final hole of this 54-hole event at the Hualalai Resort in Hawaii to catch and match early clubhouse leader Vaughan on the top of the leaderboard.
Brad Faxon, Loren Roberts, Corey Pavin and Jay Haas were tied for third, a stroke back heading into the weekend.
Defending champion John Cook opened with a 69, and Fred Couples had a 72.
All but five of the 41 players in ther limited field shot par or better on the Jack Nicklaus-designed course, ranked the easiest layout on the Tour in eight of the last nine years.
Lehman carded five birdies and an eagle and played the courses four par-5 holes in 5 under.
A three-time winner in 2011, Lehman last year became the first player to be honored as the 'Player of the Year' on all three PGA TOUR-sanctioned tours.
He won his Nationwide award in 1991 and his PGA Tour award in 1996.
Vaughan, who ho got into the tournament because of his victory in the 2008 Senior British Open and who, because he teed off early in the the third group, missed the wind that picked up to 15 mph in the afternoon, only had one bogey.
This was at the 16th hole, but he more than made up for it with birdies on the final two holes.
His 65 was his lowest score on the Champions Tour by two shots.
Roberts, who won this event in 2006 when he set the tour's scoring record at 25-under for the three rounds, has had 19 straight sub-par rounds at Hualalai and clearly spells a threat to the leaders.
TOP 10 LEADERBOARD
(US unless stated, par 72)
65 Bruce Vaughan, Tom Lehman
66 Brad Faxon, Loren Roberts, Corey Pavin, Jay Haas
67 Michael Allen, Dan Forsman
68 Bernhard Langer (Ger), Gary Hallberg, Russ Cochran, Jeff Sluman, John Huston, Mark McNulty (Irl)
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