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Published: Saturday May 30, 2009 MYT 8:17:00 AM

Golf: Browne, Nielsen, Vaughan top leaderboard in Iowa

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa: Champions Tour newcomer Olin Browne, Lonnie Nielsen and Bruce Vaughan tied for the lead at 4-under 67 after the opening round of the Principal Charity Classic on Friday.

Eleven others were one shot off the lead, including Nick Price, Fred Funk and Tom Kite.

Two-time defending champion Jay Haas shot 1 over.

Two-time defending champion Jay Haas, in his quest to become just the sixth Champions Tour player to win an event at least three times in a row, finished 1 over.

Browne, who turned 50 last week and was playing his first tournament on the senior circuit, had just one bogey and nearly made a hole-in-one at No. 16.

"To me, it's starting over again. But that's cool. That's kind of fresh," said Browne, who won three titles on the U.S. PGA Tour.

"It's going to be great."

The highlight for Browne, who was paired with Fuzzy Zoeller and Hal Sutton, came on the same hole where, in 2006, Zoeller hit a tee shot that landed on the fringe and somehow rolled into the hole nearly 10 seconds later.

Browne's shot didn't quite match Zoeller's for dramatics, but it was his fifth birdie of the day and pulled him into a tie for the lead.

"It almost went in," Browne said.

"I managed to hit a good shot and it got in there nice and close."

Nielsen, a former star at the University of Iowa, shot a 31 on the front nine and was tied for the opening-round lead for the second year in a row.

However, he crumbled over the final two rounds last year and finished in a distant tie for 22nd.

Nielsen attributed that slide in part to a wandering eye at the leaderboard, and said he's determined to be more focused this weekend.

Nielsen shot a 31 on the front nine and hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation.

"I'm just going to try and just pay attention to what I'm doing and not pay attention to what anybody is doing and just go out and shoot three good scores," Nielsen said.

"I got too hung up in where I stood last year and all that and it's just a distraction."

Vaughan missed the cut at last week's Senior PGA Championship after shooting 8 over through two rounds, and he's yet to finish in the top 10 this season.

But he got things rolling with birdies on Nos. 9, 11, 12 and 13. After a bogey at 15, he hit a 35-foot birdie putt on the next hole.

"I hit it pretty good, and that's something I haven't been doing this year," Vaughan said. - AP


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