Jay Don Blake leads the Charles Schwab Cup Championship after round one
Defending Champion Jay Don Blake stormed into lead after firing a six-under par 64 on day one of the Champions Tour’s season-ending tournament, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, on Thursday, November 1, 2012.
The tournament is being played at the Desert Mountain Club (Cochise) in Scottsdale, featuring the top-30 players in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.
Last year, the tournament was held at the TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, where the American recorded a two-stroke victory over Jay Haas, David Frost and Michael Allen.
Blake started off his week with a couple of par putts on the first two holes and followed that with two straight birdies on the third and the fourth hole.
He added another shot to his scorecard on the eighth hole and reached the turn with a three-under par score.
After recording pars on the first three holes on the back nine, he birdied four of the last six holes while conceding only one bogey. At the end of the day, he found himself leading Gary Hallberg by one stroke.
Talking to the media after completing his round, he stated that he was feeling nervous because of his title defence in Arizona.
"It's been a long time since I've been able to defend a title," Blake said. "I have to admit I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect. I was just hoping to play well”.
Fred Couples, who was playing for the first time since he withdrew from the Boeing Classic in late August, carded a four-under par 66 to share the third place on the leaderboard.
After winning the Senior British Open in July, Couples started feeling pain in his back, which later on forced him to take rest for around 10 weeks.
The 2011 US Presidents Cup team captain got off to a solid start by recording a birdie on the first hole that he played.
He then parred each of the next nine holes before earning another shot on the 11th hole. Over the last four holes, he registered three birdie putts against a lone bogey to finish the round two strokes behind the Blake.
"Beginner's luck," Couples joked after birdieing the final two holes on the Cochise Course. "I hit the ball solid. I'm thrilled to death to be 4 under”.
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