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Greensboro - Erik Compton wonders if he should start drinking more often after firing an eight-under-par 62 to grab a three-way share of the first round lead at the Wyndham Championship on Thursday.
The two-time heart-transplant recipient, who tied for second at last year's US Open, took advantage of ideal scoring conditions on a soggy Sedgefield course to join fellow Americans William McGirt and Tom Hoge atop the leaderboard.
Preferred lies and soft greens allowed players to attack the pins fearlessly on a day when 102 players broke par, including Tiger Woods, whose 64 was his best score in over two years.
Compton does not normally drink, but the 25-year-old had a couple after the pro-am on Wednesday after being summoned for a drug test.
"I drank two vodka tonics to get my kidneys working. Maybe I should do that again," Compton joked to reporters.
At 114th on the FedExCup points list, Compton is likely to stay in the top 125 and qualify for the lucrative playoffs starting next week, and a good start here did not hurt his cause.
He arrived after a couple of weeks off and a London holiday with his wife, but knocked off the rust in the pro-am and continued his hot hand when the real action started.
"Kind of an unexpected round," he said after storming home in 28 strokes on his final nine holes, the easier front nine.
"It was really a great ball-striking day with a lot of tap-ins and the course yielded some low scores (so) it was just put your foot down and know (it is) going to take a low number to win this week."
Co-leader McGirt, who grew up in nearby Charlotte, teed off so early that it was hard to read the greens for the first few holes on a cloudy morning.
"It was a little dark early but I played pretty solid all day," said McGirt, who is ranked 86th in the tour standings and, as with Compton, has never won on tour.
Tour rookie Hoge, in the last group of the day, birdied the 18th to make it a three-way tied for the lead.
Compton and McGirt led a group of four players by one stroke, while two-times major winner Martin Kaymer was among those who matched Woods on 64.
Leading scores after first round of the $5.4 million Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club on Thursday (Par 70; USA unless stated):
62 - William McGirt, Erik Compton, Tom Hoge
63 - Jim Herman, Derek Ernst, Morgan Hoffmann
64 - Tiger Woods, Martin Kaymer (GER), Carl Pettersson (SWE), Davis Love III
65 - Tom Gillis, Jonas Blixt (SWE), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Bill Haas, Chad Campbell, Cameron Percy (AUS), Oscar Fraustro (MEX), George Coetzee (RSA), Sam Saunders
66 - Tim Clark (RSA), Scott Brown, Nick Watney, Jon Curran, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (ESP), Bryce Molder, Spencer Levin, Paul Casey (ENG), Michael Thompson, Ryan Moore, Lucas Glover, Vijay Singh (FIJ), Camilo Villegas (COL), Jason Gore, Martin Flores
Selected:
67 - Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Aaron Baddeley (AUS), Branden Grace (RSA), Ernie Els (RSA), Adam Scott
68 - K.J. Choi (KOR), Luke Donald (ENG)
