Flying start for Watson

Tom Watson took a look at his scorecard and was very happy.

Watson fired a bogey-free eight-under-par 64 – one shot off the event record - and opened a two-stroke lead after the first round of the MasterCard Championship in Hawaii.

Watson had four birdies on each side of the par-72 Hualalai Resort Golf Club, which again is hosting the season-opening event of the Champions Tour’s 25th year. But what made him smile was the absence of a certain number.

“No fives on my card today. That’s always a goal of mine,” said Watson, whose only tour win last season came in the Skins Game.

Playing through hip and shoulder ailments, Watson birdied all four par-five holes as his putter was working well. He credited a change he made in his putting style.

“You can shoot low scores when you putt well,” Watson said. “I changed my putting stroke a little when I came here and it worked. My old putting style felt like I was flipping my wrist. I made the change a little out of desperation. It was nice to shoot a 64.”

An 18-foot birdie putt at the par-four 15th moved Watson to eight under. He had chances to go even lower but missed birdies of 25, 12 and 18 feet coming in and came up one shot shy of tying the tournament record shared by Tom Kite, Fuzzy Zoeller and Craig Stadler.

Watson is two shots better than Wayne Levi, who also had a bogey-free round.

“I don’t know where all this good game is coming from, but I hope it stays,” said Levi, who won last year’s Constellation Energy Classic.

Stadler is among five players tied for third at 67. Zoeller, the defending champion, is among six at 68 and Hale Irwin is among nine at three-under 69.

Stadler enjoyed a superb 2004 season, leading the elder circuit with five wins. He was edged for the Charles Schwab Cup by Irwin but was voted Player of the Year by his peers.

Among those at 67 was Vicente Fernandez, who also had a bogey-free round. Playing for the first time since November, he birdied three of the four par-fives.

“The time off was good for me,” he said. “I was excited to go today. I didn’t know what to expect. It’s been about 25 years or so since I had a lay-off that long.”