Mark Wiebe feels good enough to share Toshiba Classic lead

Mark Wiebe, appearing weary and ill, dropped himself into a chair in an interview room at the Newport Beach Country Club on Friday.

He then leaned his left temple onto his left fist. His eyes drooped. This is how a sick man does an interview, apparently. And how a leader in the Toshiba Classic looked after the first round.

Wiebe, battling flu-like symptoms, picked up six birdies and played his first bogey-free round of the year. He shot a six-under-par 65 to share the lead with Bob Tway and Chien Soon Lu. Fred Couples leads a group of four who are one shot back.

“I’m not feeling all that great, so I’m glad it’s over and I get to rest,” said Wiebe, who has two wins in his two-plus years on the Champions Tour. “Your expectations are low when you don’t feel well.... When I made my last putt I looked at my caddie, and he said, ‘Nice playing.’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s over. I want to go lay down.’”

Wiebe will need the rest, as the golfers will try to beat the rain Saturday. The first tee time is set for 8:30 a.m., two hours earlier than it was initially scheduled. Rain and wind are expected during the afternoon in Newport Beach. That’ll be something more for Wiebe to deal with.

An eventful week caused his body to break down Friday, he figured. He had been following his son, Gunner, who competes for the University of San Diego golf team. A West Coast trip appeared perfect for Wiebe, as he took in the USC tournament at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village on Monday and Tuesday. Afterward, during practice, Wiebe started to feel ill.

But he wouldn’t let it stop him from playing in Newport Beach.

“I was just so busy trying to keep my focus,” Wiebe said. “When you don’t feel good, sometimes you start thinking about [that] instead of golf, and I was determined to not let that happen. I can be a baby now.”

Tway, on the other hand, went about his round in a rather ho-hum way, collecting seven birdies. His only blemish was a bogey on No. 11.

“It was kind of in a footprint, and I missed about a foot putt, so that was disappointing,” he said. “Other than that, I played real well.”

Tway also has a son playing NCAA Division I golf. That would be Kevin, who plays for Oklahoma State. Tway lives 45 minutes from the Oklahoma State campus and plays golf frequently with his son. Two years ago, he also played with Cowboys alumnus Rickie Fowler, who is now making a splash on the PGA Tour.

Couples is the one drawing plenty of attention on the Champions Tour. His group, which included Tom Watson and Mark O’Meara, drew the largest gallery during the first round. The crowd helped Couples step up his game at times, he said.

“It’s been a while,” he said of having a large gallery follow him. “It’s nice to see people come out. That’s a lot of people on a Friday.”

Argentina’s Eduardo Romero, trying to becoming the Toshiba Classic’s first repeat winner, is two shots back, along with seven others.

steve.virgen@latimes.com