Four share 3M Championship lead

Blaine, MN – Chien Soon Lu, Steve Pate, Peter Senior and 65- year-old Gil Morgan each fired rounds of 7-under 65 on Friday to share the first-round lead of the 3M Championship.

Tom Jenkins, Joel Edwards and Mark McNulty are knotted in fifth place at 6- under 66 at the TPC Twin Cities.

Senior Players Championship winner Joe Daley, Bernhard Langer, Willie Wood, David Frost, D.A. Weibring and Jeff Hart are tied for eighth place at 5-under 67.

Each of the four co-leaders brought something interesting to the table on Friday, but none more than the man who shot his age for the second time in his Champions Tour career.

"It's great to shoot my age," said Morgan. "It could have been an exciting round. I turn 66 next month. Maybe I'll have another chance somewhere down the road."

Morgan started on No. 10 Friday and made three birdies on his opening side, including a 40-footer at No. 13.

After the turn, Morgan drained a 10-foot birdie putt at the first, but soared up the leaderboard midway through the second nine. He ran home another 10-foot birdie putt at the fourth, rolled in a long birdie putt at five, then kicked in a short one at the par-5 sixth.

Morgan parred out for his share of the lead.

"I played good today. Didn't make any mistakes," said Morgan. "I was pretty steady overall and made a few putts."

Pate parred his first two, then went on a run of five consecutive birdies from the third. That run ended with a thud when he bogeyed the par-3 eighth.

Pate sank a 6-foot birdie putt at the 10th and four holes later, poured in a 35-foot birdie putt at the 14th. He polished off his scoring with a 15-foot birdie at the 16th for the lowest round of his Champions Tour career.

"I'm really playing catch-up out here," admitted Pate, who is winless in just a few year on the elder circuit. "Nice to get off to a good start finally."

Senior had the most up-and-down round of the four co-leaders. He netted five birdies and a bogey through his first nine holes, the back at TPC Twin Cities, then tallied four birdies and a bogey on the second side.

Lu had only two birdies on his front nine, but stormed back with six birdies, a bogey and two pars on his back nine.

NOTES: Defending champion Jay Haas shot a 1-under 71 and is tied for 41st...This is the first time in the 20-year history of this event that four players shared the first-round lead.