Curtis, Lewis Strike Late

Ben Curtis and J.L. Lewis shot six-under-par 64s Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Buick Championship at Cromwell, Conn.

Curtis, the 2003 British Open winner, birdied his 17th hole, and Lewis birdied his 18th to emerge from a group of players bunched at five under.

Kevin Sutherland, Justin Rose, Franklin Langham, Vaughn Taylor, coming off a win last week at the Reno-Tahoe Open, and NCAA individual runner-up Michael Putnam of Pepperdine, who is making his PGA Tour debut, are a stroke back.

Former U.S. Open winner Corey Pavin is among a group of four at four under.

Curtis has only two top 10 finishes since he hoisted the Claret Jug. He made one cut in his first 10 events this year and his confidence suffered. But he began a turnaround last month when he finished third at the Western Open and then contended early at the PGA Championship.

“I gradually just worked on the swing and started hitting the ball better. That led to making some putts and that’s been the key,” Curtis said. “It’s just fun to go play again.”

Putnam had a few rookie jitters early, then settled down. Fresh off the U.S. Walker Cup victory, Putnam got into this event on a sponsor’s exemption.

“I was a little nervous,” Putnam said. “The first couple holes I hit my driver everywhere, but fortunately I hit some good recovery shots and made some birdies off of them.”

Another Pepperdine alum, Jason Gore, made his season debut as a PGA Tour member after his midseason promotion from the Nationwide Tour.

Gore, the fan favorite at the U.S. Open, had no magic at the 6,820-yard TPC at River Highlands, shooting a 74.

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Dana Quigley made a 45-foot eagle putt to close out a five-under 67 and earn a share of the first-round lead of the Tradition at Aloha, Ore.

Loren Roberts, John Harris and D.A. Weibring also were at five under in the final major of the year on the Champions Tour.

Quigley, 58, a two-time winner this year, was in a twosome with Weibring, a runner-up at the U.S. Senior Open and winner at Bruno’s Memorial Classic.

“When you see a guy playing well, it tends to get you stirred up to play well,” Quigley said. “We didn’t spend much of the day looking for balls or seeing clubs being slammed to the ground.”

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Defending champion Catriona Matthew was one of five players tied for the lead -- the biggest first-round logjam this year on the LPGA Tour -- at the Wendy’s Championship for Children at Dublin, Ohio.

Matthew, Paula Marti, Soo-Yun Kang, Heather Daly-Donofrio and Marisa Baena were at 66, with another nine players a shot back as the 144-player field took advantage of soft greens and a short course to post 69 subpar scores.

Annika Sorenstam, seeking her seventh win of the year, came off a two-week vacation in which she barely picked up a club and shot a 69.

“Three under after two weeks of really no golf, I can’t complain,” said Sorenstam, making her first appearance at the Wendy’s since 2001.

Playing in the same group, rookie-of-the-year front-runner Paula Creamer had a 68.

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Kent State senior Ryan Yip and fellow Canadians Mark Leon and J.C. Deacon won two matches at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Yip beat Brett Stegmaier, 2-up, in the second round and edged U.S. Walker Cup player Brian Harman, 1-up, in the third round on Merion’s East Course.

Yip will face Northwestern senior Dillon Dougherty in the quarterfinals. Dougherty beat longtime Britain and Ireland Walker Cup player Gary Wolstenholme, 4 and 2, in the second round and Dane Burkhart, 2 and 1, in the third round. Burkhart beat qualifying medalist James Lepp of Canada, 2 and 1, in the second round.