NAPA, Calif. -- Brendan Steele had an ideal start to the new PGA Tour season at the Frys.com Open with a round that featured nine birdies, no stress and a simple explanation.
"As weird as it is to say, it was kind of a basic 63," he said.
It gave him a one-shot lead over Jhonattan Vegas in ideal scoring conditions at Silverado, which has such subtle movement in the greens that the course doesn't always yield low scores even when players have a short iron into the putting surface.
Twenty-eight players shot 68 or better, and one-third of the field was in the 60s.