Andy Bean and Monday qualifier Mike Goodes shot 7-under 65s on Friday to share the first-round lead in the Champions Tour's Regions Charity Classic. Leading money winner Bernhard Langer was two strokes back on the 7,503-yard Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Ross Bridge course. A two-time winner this year on the 50-and-over tour, Langer tied for 15th Sunday in The Players Championship on the PGA Tour. Without an exemption, Goodes had to qualify for the tournament on Monday in North Carolina and matched his best round since joining the Champions Tour in 2006. Goodes' final birdie _ on No. 13 _ moved him to 7 under during a bogey-free round after Bean had taken the lead into the clubhouse. Two holes earlier, Goodes holed out from a bunker for another birdie. "It's fun to play a good round, and I know it means absolutely nothing right now," said Goodes, who has had to qualify for each of his six tournaments this year and has managed only one top-25 finish. "I hope I play two more. "I may try to play tomorrow just like I did today, which was try to make smart decisions and hit aggressive shots. That was kind of my mind-set going into today and I hope that's what it will be the next two days." Bean also is an unlikely leader. His only top-25 finish this year came when he tied for fourth at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf on April 27 and he has one win in 130 Champions Tour events. "I hit it close all day. I don't know if I had a shot outside 20, 25 feet all day hitting into the green," said Bean, who has two daughters living in Birmingham. Continued... |