Henry sets pace in Las Vegas

Las Vegas - JJ Henry eagled his last hole to complete a flawless 11-under par 60 and seize the early first-round lead in the US PGA Tour's Shriners' Hospital Open.

Henry, who teed off on the 10th hole at TPC Summerlin, rolled in a 50-foot eagle putt at the par-five ninth to cap his round.

"It was one of those days," said Henry, a two-time PGA TOUR winner whose effort included nine birdies.

"There wasn't much wind and the greens were pretty soft. It was nice to make that putt on the last hole to make lunch taste that much better."

On a day when birdies abounded, Henry had a one-stroke clubhouse lead over Argentina's Andres Romero -- who had six birdies and two eagles in his 10-under 61.

With the afternoon starters still on the course, Americans James Driscoll and Jonathan Byrd were in the clubhouse on eight-under 63.

"I played solid on the front nine," said Henry, who hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation and played his last six holes in six-under.

"I was just trying to get my feet wet and shoot a couple under par."

Henry is coming off a 16th-place finish at last week's Frys.com Open, which marked the official start of the US PGA Tour's 2013-2014 season.

Six tournaments are scheduled before January, offering FedEx Cup playoff points and a coveted Masters berth to the winner.

"With the changes (to the schedule), I thought it was important to get myself off to a good start," Henry said.

Leading first-round scores on Thursday in the $6 million US PGA Shriners' Hospitals Open (USA unless noted, par-71):

60 - JJ Henry

61 - Andres Romero (ARG)

63 - James Driscoll, Jonathan Byrd, Jeff Overton

64 - Webb Simpson

65 - Stephen Ames (CAN), John Senden (AUS), Bryce Molder, Scott Brown, Heath Slocum, Chesson Hadley

66 - Ricky Barnes, Sean O'Hair, Cameron Tringale, Ryan Palmer, Will Claxton, Charley Hoffman, Daniel Summerhays

67 - Freddie Jacobson (SWE), Troy Matteson, Charles Howell, Derek Ernst, Charlie Beljan, Jason Bohn, Greg Chalmers (AUS), Russell Knox (SCO), Ryo Ishikawa (JPN), Edward Loar, Brendan Steele, Kyle Stanley, Vijay Singh (FIJ), Morgan Hoffmann, Jose Coceres (ARG), Brice Garnett, Brendon Todd