Mielke and Morin match 68s to lead the 38th CPC

Mark Mielke of East Norwich, N.Y., and Alan Morin of Royal Palm Beach, Fla., were going after each other shot for shot so much on Thursday that it looked like they were playing match play. Instead, they ended their march around the famed Ocean Course at Kiawah Island deadlocked for the first-round lead at the 38th PGA Club Professional Championship.

Bob Denney, PGA of America

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (PGA.com) -- It wasn't match play that Mark Mielke of East Norwich, N.Y., and Alan Morin of Royal Palm Beach, Fla., were engaged in Thursday afternoon at The Ocean Course. But it was a special duel on a layout renowned for hosting a Ryder Cup thriller 14 years ago.

The duo just seemed to enjoy going at each other stroke by stroke, putt for putt, until they matched 4-under-par 68s and shared the first-round lead in the 38th PGA Club Professional Championship.

After both shook off opening-hole bogeys, Mielke and Morin attacked the 7,355-yard course that didn't bite back for once in the nation's showcase event for PGA Professionals.

"When you get in a group where everyone is hitting good shots, you definitely feed off it," said Mielke, PGA Head Professional at Mill River Club in Oyster Bay, N.Y. "When you are seeing good shots, everything is very positive and there are no negatives going on, which is nice."

Taking advantage of an early-morning starting time, Mielke and Morin each needed only 28 putts, missed only four greens and each hit 11 fairways. Morin collected five birdies to offset the opening miscue, while Mielke had six birdies to go with two bogeys.

Their perches atop the leader board held up throughout the day, which featured a 95-minute midafternoon suspension of play until thunderstorms cleared the area.

Kelly Maxwell of Louisville, Ky., Travis Long of Henderson, Nev., and Gus Ulrich of Pinehurst, N.C., finished a stroke back at 69. Long scrambled just before darkness halted play at 8:45 p.m., making a 45-foot par save from behind the green.

Darrell Kestner of Glen Cove, N.Y., the 1996 PGA Club Professional Champion, led a group at 70 that included Mark Fuller of Edmond, Okla., Rob Moss of Broadview Heights, Ohio, and Rich Steinmetz of Perkiomenville, Pa.

Six players were unable to finish due to darkness, and will conclude their opening round Friday at 8:30 a.m. The second round will begin as scheduled at 7:30 a.m.

The 38th PGA Club Professional Championship, featuring a $500,000 purse, is being contested for the first time in South Carolina. The field of 156 players is composed of players representing 39 states and 39 PGA Sections.

Mielke said that he was so focused that he didn't realize that he and Morin were battling for sole possession of the lead.

"We had not seen a leader board, and I didn't even realize that he [Alan] was also way under par," said Mielke. "He had been putting so well."

The positives in the CPC have been many for the two players over the years. Mielke, the PGA Head Professional at Mill River Club in Oyster Bay, N.Y., owns top-10 finishes in 1994 and 2001 during his 12 previous CPC appearances.

Morin, a PGA Assistant Professional at The Falls Country Club in Lake Worth, Fla., is making his fifth start. It has either been a great finish or a week's disappointment for Morin in the Championship.

He missed the cut in 1998 and 2004, but finished tied for ninth in 2002 and shared seventh in 2003. Morin birdied the 14th, 16th, fourth, fifth and seventh holes, finishing his round by two-putting from 50 feet over a large mound on the par-4 ninth.

"I just stayed patient," said Morin. "This weather is beautiful, just like home [Florida]. I'd like it hotter. I've now played this course on three separate days with two different directions. So, I guess I know what to do on certain holes when it blows either way. I'm as prepared as I can get."

For at least one day, Mielke had the formula to attack The Ocean Course.

"I didn't get in any trouble, and I hit my driver good and hit my irons good," said Mielke, who has top-10 finishes in the CPC in 1994 and 2001. "It was just a matter of how many putts I made. I birdied 16, missed a short one on 17 and birdied 18, then birdied 1, 2, 6 and 7.

"I started off on 10, making a bogey after not getting up and down from off the green. But I had a pretty good stretch after that. On 4, I hit my first bad shot, a 5-iron into a waste area and didn't get it up and down. But I made two good birdies finishing up. I made a 20-footer on six and two-putted for birdie on seven."

When Mielke began practicing at The Ocean Course, he admitted that he didn't think one could make many birdies. But he collected six.

"In practice, we were saying that you could take even par, and even par might be what wins this," said Mielke. "You don't know. It all depends on what the wind starts doing. The wind completely changed from when we started."

Maxwell, the PGA Head Professional at Big Spring Country Club in Louisville, is making his second appearance, having finished 64th last year. The 40-year-old had four birdies and a bogey -- failing to get up and down from the back of the green on the ninth hole, his final of the day.

"That last little putt stands out. I wish I would have hit it better," said Maxwell, who finished 64th a year ago in his CPC debut. "But I was very happy overall with my play. That was a good round for me and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

Kestner, who competed in last month's Senior PGA Championship, saved par from a waste bunker on the ninth hole, his last of the day.

"I was telling myself that you can't win it in the first round, but on this golf course you can sure lose it," said Kestner. "The person who makes the most birdies isn't going to win, but it's the person who makes the least amount of bogeys.

"It's such a demanding golf course. Every hole you got to step up and just ask yourself, 'Well, how can I make a par here? ' "

The Championship continues through Sunday. The low 25 scorers earn a berth in the 87th PGA Championship, Aug. 11-14, at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J. The low eight scorers will join the 2003 and 2004 national champions on the 2005 U.S. PGA Cup Team that faces Great Britain and Ireland, Sept. 23-25, at The K Club in Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland.

The 38th PGA Club Professional Championship is presented by Titleist, FootJoy and Cobra; Buick; Club Car and Amstel Light and Buckler. The Greg Norman Collection is the Official Golf Apparel of the CPC, and The Golf Channel an exclusive media partner and the PGA Tour a contributing partner.

The PGA of America, founded in 1916, is a not-for-profit organization that promotes the game of golf while continuing to enhance the standards of the profession. The Association is comprised of more than 28,000 men and women PGA Professionals who are dedicated to growing participation in the game of golf.

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