Osborn, Bowden and Putnam share lead at Nationwide Soboba Classic

SAN JACINTO, Calif. -- Garrett Osborn, Craig Bowden and Michael Putnam each posted 4-under-par 67s Thursday to share the opening-round lead in the Soboba Classic, one of two Nationwide Tour events this year to feature a record-matching $1 million purse.

The opening day of the inaugural event proved to be a difficult test for the field of 144. The leaders didn't go far from a bunched pack that has 11 players knotted at 3-under 68 and another 13 only two behind of the trio.

"It's the right kind of golf course for an event like this," said Derek Lamely, who shot 68 and currently holds down the No. 12 spot on the money list. "It's the biggest event of the year and this is good for us."

Birdies nearly matched bogeys at The Country Club of Soboba Springs but only 10 eagles were made on the windy opener, compared to 64 double bogeys and nine "others."

"It's a thinker's golf course," said Osborn, the only player to get to 5 under at any point on Thursday. "You have to pay attention to where you miss it, either coming into the greens or off the tee. If you miss it in the wrong spot on these greens, you're going to make bogey."

Osborn was flawless through 15 holes before missing an 8-foot par putt on No. 16 and made his only bogey of the day.

"I like playing courses like this," he said of the 7,102-yard tree-lined layout. "Where par means something."

Par meant you were in the top half of the field after 18 holes. A total of 46 players broke par (71) and 64 were at par-or-better. The scoring average for the day was 72.194.

Player after player has talked this week about narrow fairways, pinched landing areas, fairway bunkers and small greens -- all of which puts a premium on accuracy, on every shot.

"You have to drive it in the fairway and you have to be patient," said Bowden, who leads the Tour in Driving Accuracy (79.75%) but managed to hit only half of the 14 fairways on day one.

"I'm going to the range to see if I can fix some things," said Bowden. "If you can get it in the fairways here you can make some good numbers."

Putnam had a stretch of good numbers as he rounded the turn. Five consecutive birdies helped him weave his way up the leaderboard, but the Washington resident thought it could have been better.

"I hit it close the first six holes and then bogeyed 16 so I was feeling pretty down," he said. "I felt like I could have been 2 or 3 under and I was 1 over but then it caught up to me."

Putnam rolled in a four-footer for birdie at number 18 and then canned four birdies in a row from 12 to 15 feet.

"So the ones that didn't go in the first six holes all went in together," he said. "I was setting up to shoot a real low number on that side with those two par 5s coming."

Putnam promptly three-putted for bogey from seven feet on No. 5 and missed a 4-footer for birdie at No. 6 -- both par 5s.

Among the fan favorites this week are 20-year-old Rickie Fowler and Brendan Steele.

Fowler, 20, grew up about 30 miles away in Murietta and turned pro two weeks ago after a highly successful amateur career and two-year college run at Oklahoma State. Fowler shot a 1-under 70 and is tied for 28th.

Steele, from Idyllwild, attended school in Hemet and played high school golf on this course. He posted a 3-under 68 and is one of 11 players tied for fourth.

The first birdie in tournament history belongs to Robert Damron, who was in the second group off the 10th tee. Nobody in the first group off either the first or 10th tee birdied the first hole. Damron teed off at 7:05 a.m. and rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt to be the first with a red number on the board.

A total of 23 of the top 25 money winners, 56 of the top 60 and 94 of the top 100 are in the field this week. Among the missing from the list are No. 1 Michael Sim, No. 19 Mathias Gronberg, No. 37 Steven Alker and No. 60 Darron Stiles.

Michael Putnam had five birdies in a row as he made the turn. Putnam started his run with a short putt at No. 18 and the added four more on holes 1-4.

First-Round Notes: Thursday's leaders are at 4 under par, the second-highest first-round leading scores in 2009. Eight players shared the opening-day lead at 3 under par at the season-opening Panama Digicel Championship. Five players shared the lead at 4 under par at the Moonah Classic in Australia the following week and two players shared the lead at 4 under at the Mexico Open.

This is the first time this year that Garrett Osborn and Michael Putnam have held or shared a lead after a round this year. Craig Bowden held the 36-hole lead by one stroke at the Utah Championship. ... John Riegger (76) withdrew after the opening round.

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