Tom Kite shares lead at the Nature Valley First Tee Open
Tom Kite posted a five-under par 67 in the opening round of the Nature Valley First Tee Open, to share the lead at the Pebble Beach Golf Links, on Friday, July 6, 2012.
Kite got off to a brilliant start on the back nine of the course and carded two straight birdies on the opening two holes of the day.
Thereafter, he parred seven consecutive holes prior to a birdie on the 10th hole (No. 1). The par-three sixth hole saw him make the only bogey of the round, following a birdie on the fifth hole.
Another two birdies to end the round allowed him to take the early lead in the three-day event. Later in the evening, he was joined by John Cook on top of the leaderboard, with an amazing eagle putt on the final hole.
Kite enjoyed playing at Del Monte, the site for his victory in the 1992 US Open, and told that he received some swing techniques from Peter Jacobsen and Olin Browne on Thursday, which helped him post a good score in the end.
"I had a nice lesson on the range yesterday with Peter Jacobsen and Olin Browne on my swing. It really helped. I was a little off on my backswing,” said Kite, whose lone miscue was a bogey on the par-3 sixth.
"I played a really nice round today. You need to get off to a good start, especially here at Del Monte".
The 19-time PGA Tour winner is now looking forward to adding another good round on Saturday, with an aim of ending the four-year winning drought. His last victory came in the 2008 Boeing Open.
Mark McNulty, Loren Roberts and Tom Pernice Jr. were tied for the third position after recording a four-under par 68 each.
"You come here feeling like you should shoot 6-under and it's hard work to shoot 4-under," said Pernice, whose last win came at the 2009 SAS Championship."I didn't get crazy when I had to and when I had the opportunity, I took advantage and hit some good iron shots".
In the meantime, the defending champion Jeff Sluman finished four strokes behind the pace to share the 17th spot on the leaderboard.
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