Goodes is great at Principal Charity Classic

West Des Moines, IA – Mike Goodes fired a seven-under 64 on Friday to take a two-shot lead after the first round of the Principal Charity Classic.

Larry Nelson, Larry Mize, Jay Haas, Tom Pernice, Jr. and David Frost share second place at five-under 66 at Glen Oaks Country Club.

Jeff Sluman, last year's runner-up Mark Brooks, Gary Koch, Jim Gallagher, Jr., Dan Forsman, Russ Cochran, Eduardo Romero, Peter Senior and Kirk Triplett are knotted in seventh place at four-under 67.

Everyone is chasing Goodes, who flew out of the gate on Friday with four straight birdies to open his round. They all came from in close and he had good chances for six in a row, but missed at both five and six.

"You can't start feeling good after just four holes," said a realistic Goodes. "It was a good start though."

Goodes tripped to his first birdie thanks to a three-putt at the seventh, but he atoned for error before the turn. He knocked an eight-iron inside a foot for an easy birdie at eight, then chipped to two feet with his third at the par-five ninth to set up another easy birdie.

Goodes saved a nine par to keep his momentum going at 10, but lipped out a 15- foot birdie try at the 12th. His 20-footer for birdie fell at No. 13, but found some trouble at the 14th. Goodes' four-iron tee ball rolled away from the hole and he three-putted to fall back to five-under par for the championship.

After a pair of pars at 15 and 16, Goodes hit an eight-iron just outside 20 feet at the 17th and cashed in on the birdie try. He played a seven-iron to 18 feet at the last and poured that putt to move past Nelson, who had the lead until a bogey at 18.

"I hit the ball really well," said Goodes. "The golf course is in perfect condition. The greens are soft. You're going to see a lot of low scores."

Nelson three-putted the last to fall one behind his playing partner.

"He was playing really well," Nelson said of Goodes. "He drove it as good as I've ever seen, and he hit a lot of good iron shots and made some good putts so it was fun playing with him."

Defending champion Bob Gilder shot a one-under 70.

NOTES: Goodes' only Champions Tour win came at the 2009 Allianz Championship...He has two third-place finishes in 2012, but missed the cut last week at the Senior PGA Championship...Graham Marsh aced the second hole Friday after an ace in this week's pro-am...At the 2004 Senior British Open, he aced the same hole twice in tournament play.