Reno, NV – Josh Teater tallied 15 points on Thursday to grab the lead after the opening round of the Reno-Tahoe Open, where the Modified Stableford scoring system is in place.
Teater, who finished in the top 10 at this event each of the past two years, mixed an eagle, six birdies and a pair of bogeys at Montreux Golf & Country Club.
James Driscoll and Gary Woodland both notched 14 points to share second place, while Greg Chalmers grabbed solo fourth with 13 first-round points.
The Modified Stableford scoring system awards eight points for double eagles, five for eagles, two for birdies, zero for pars and subtracts one point for bogeys and three points for double bogey or worse.
"Last year I played pretty good here," said Teater. "I think Friday's round wasn't very good, but I played good Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday and finished seventh. So you can make a lot of moves in one round. So I got a good start, and hopefully I can keep it going."
Stuart Appleby and Colt Knost both totaled 12 points to share fifth place, while 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman, Bud Cauley, Justin Bolli, David Mathis and Dean Wilson all tallied 10 points to grab a share of seventh.
Woodland, the 2011 Transitions Championship titlist, grabbed the early lead, firing seven birdies during his bogey-free opening round, but Teater eventually charged in front.
Starting on No. 10, Teater tallied two points of the gate with a birdie before promptly losing a point with a bogey at the par-3 11th. He went birdie-bogey again from the 14th before closing his outward nine with back-to-back birdies.
Teater, who is winless in 112 previous PGA Tour starts, parred three straight around the turn before reaching eight points with a birdie at the par-4 fourth.
Another trio of pars followed before Teater closed strong.
The 34-year-old highlighted his opening round and pushed his total to 13 with an eagle-3 at the eighth, then birdied his last to overtake Woodland and grab the lead with 15 points.
"[I] hit a really good drive on 17 down the left side and had 300 to the hole," said Teater. "With all the adjustments we factored in, it was about 245 to the front. That's kind of a max hybrid for me, so I hit a really good shot there.
"I tend to hit that shot and it leaks to the right and catches that bunker, but I really hit a good one there and stayed left of the bunker. Got up on the green and funneled down probably 20 feet right of the hole and just caught the right edge on that putt."
Driscoll, playing in the same group as Teater, countered two bogeys with eight birdies, the last of which came at No. 8 and produced at tie for second place with Woodland.
NOTES: Teater placed seventh at this event is 2012 and tied for 10th in 2011 ... Defending champion J.J. Henry is tied for 108th with negative-3 points. He had three bogeys and parred the rest ... This tournament used the Modified Stableford scoring format last year for the first time. It was the first PGA Tour event to use the format since The International in 2006 ... This event is being played opposite the WGC - Bridgestone Invitational.