GOLF : Jobe Leads, but Unknown Qualifier Close

Kevin Pom-Arleau is so obscure in PGA circles that, after Thursday’s six-under-par 65 in the $2.5-million Air Canada Championship, he had to inform tour officials that there was a hyphen in his last name.

Pom-Arleau, a former Air Force air traffic controller competing in his first PGA event, was among the lesser-known names near the top of the leaderboard after the first round.

Japanese Tour veteran Brandt Jobe, coming off a career-best fourth last week, led with a 63. Veteran Peter Jacobsen shot 30 on the back nine and was at 64.

Joining Pom-Arleau two shots back was Charles Raulerson, a former rail executive.

Pom-Arleau, 30, got into the tournament as a Monday qualifier and the former Pacific Northwest Cascade Tour player took advantage. He called his bogey-free first round a dream come true.

“I’m just trying to have fun and not feel like I don’t belong out here, have fun and come to the realization that I think I can play with these guys and see what happens,” Pom-Arleau said.

Pom-Arleau was introduced to the game at age 10 when his dad built a bunker and putting green in the backyard of his Wenatchee, Wash., home.

Jobe, who earned $113,666 in last week’s Reno-Tahoe Open, flirted with the Northview course record of 62 until he bogeyed the par-three 16th hole.

“It was just one of those days where you hit a bunch of those shots close, 10-15 feet, and you make the putts,” Jobe said. “I’ve been playing nicely. Last week was a good week. I kind of look at it as every week being a new opportunity for me. I’m in a comfort area after last week.”

The Littleton, Colo., native is a former member of the Canadian Tour and familiar with the area, having won the British Columbia Open in 1990 and the Payless Classic, in Victoria, Canada, in 1992.

“I haven’t been up here for a long time, so I was hoping some of that magic, or whatever it was I had back then, would come through. And it has for a day,” Jobe said.