Trio share lead in Buick Open

Corey Pavin, Bo Van Pelt and Dudley Hart fired bogey-free eight-under-par opening rounds to share the lead at the Buick Open this morning.

Searching for his first title since the 2006 season, Pavin parred the first four holes before carding a birdie on six of his next eight holes at the Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club.

Van Pelt, who is still searching for his first championship on the PGA Tour, recorded six birdies and eagled the par-five seventh hole to earn a share of the lead.

"I had a couple of good rounds here," said Van Pelt. "I think two years ago, I was in pretty good shape after two days and didn't play very well on the weekend. And I've had some good rounds. I haven't carried it forward through all four days.

"And I like the golf course. And I grew up in Indiana, a small town, and played a lot of golf courses that looked similar to this. And so it's kind of good to get back to familiar surroundings."

Briny Baird, who also played bogey-free on Thursday, is tied with Sweden's Daniel Chopra, the winner of the season-opening Mercedes-Benz championship, at seven-under.

"It's been the best start I've had since then," said Chopra, referring to the Mercedes. "Probably the lowest round I've had on tour since then.

"Keep in mind, though, the golf courses I have played on since then have been extremely difficult. I've kind of picked my events a little bit more this year and chosen some of the more elite events. And in doing that you're playing on extremely difficult golf courses. And it's been a fun year that way."

Canadian Jon Mills, England's Kenneth Ferrie, Woody Austin and Japan's Shigeki Maruyama are all tied at six-under.

Rocco Mediate, the US Open runner-up, struggled down the stretch and was forced to settle for a one-under 71.

Playing in his first event since his heartbreaking 19-hole play-off loss to Tiger Woods, Mediate bogeyed 11, 15 and 17 to fall into a tie for 47th place.

"I need some rest. I haven't been able to get some rest," said Mediate. "I'll get it. I'm not complaining. I just need to get some rest."