Naples, FL – Davis Love III and Brandt Snedeker teamed to fire a 10-under 62 on Friday to grab a 2-stroke lead after the opening round of the Franklin Templeton Shootout.
Love captained Snedeker this year at the Ryder Cup. Love won this title in 1992 with Tom Kite.
Sean O'Hair teamed with Kenny Perry to shoot 8-under 64. They are alone in second place on the Gold Course at Tiburon Golf Club.
Former Walker Cup teammates Bud Cauley and Rickie Fowler shot 6-under 66. They were joined in third place by the teams of Jason Dufner and Vijay Singh as well as Charles Howell III and Rory Sabbatini.
The first round was played in the alternate shot format. They will switch to better ball format on Saturday.
Love got his team going with a 6-foot birdie putt at the first. At the sixth, Snedeker blasted from a greenside bunker to tap-in range. Love stuck his tee ball within five feet at No. 8 and Snedeker rolled in that birdie effort.
Around the turn, Snedeker converted birdie efforts at 10 and 12, both from just over 10 feet. Love's second to the par-5 14th stopped just short of the green, but Snedeker's eagle try stopped on the lip.
Snedeker pitched to about six feet at 17 to set up the team's final birdie of the day.
"We got off to a really good start today. Davis made a good 6-foot putt on the first hole to get us some momentum going, and then he made a bomb on the third hole to really get us jump started," Snedeker said. "From there, like he said, we both drove the ball really well, so we had a lot of opportunities to pick the right number and make sure we wanted the right guy putting on the greens."
Perry, who has won this title twice, and O'Hair had three birdies in a row from the third to get their round going. Later at the ninth, Perry hit his approach to eight feet and O'Hair converted the putt for birdie.
The duo paired for a couple of up and down saves on the back nine to keep their round going.
"I thought we played really well from tee-to-green today. Kenny got it in play off the tee and it just kind of let me just hammer away at it," said O'Hair. "I drove it really well today.
"He hit some nice iron shots in there and I hit some nice iron shots in there. Really, he was the main reason we were playing so well, though. You can hit it good all day, but you've got to make the putts. He was on with his putter."
The last two teams to win this title are among three tied for sixth place at 5-under 67. Keegan Bradley and Brendan Steele won last year, while Dustin Johnson and Ian Poulter won in 2010. Those teams were joined at minus-5 by Stewart Cink and Carl Pettersson.
Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker are alone in ninth at minus-4. Justin Leonard and Scott Verplank, who finished second at this event twice, share 10th place at 2-under 70 with Mark Calcavecchia and Mike Weir.
Tournament-host Greg Norman and Fredrik Jacobson are alone in 12th at even- par 72.
NOTES: After the better ball format on Saturday, Sunday's final round will be a scramble ... Calcavecchia, Norman, Kelly and Stricker have all won this title in the past.
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