Frazar returns to tour, grabs share of lead at Buick event

Harrison Frazar returned from a long layoff to grab a share of the first-round lead in the Buick Championship in Cromwell, Conn., shooting a season-best 6-under 65 to join Heath Slocum, Peter Lonard and Scott Verplank atop the leaderboard.

Frazar, seeking his first PGA Tour victory, hadn't played a tour round since withdrawing after the first round in Memphis last month. The birth of his third child nine days ago and family health problems kept him to close home. In that time, he only played a few rounds with his father and some buddies.

"Haven't hardly hit more than a bucket of balls at a time, maybe total, in the five weeks," Frazar said. "Just spent a lot of time with my family, trying to get everybody squared away."

Corey Pavin, Memorial winner Carl Pettersson, Darron Stiles, Camilo Villegas, Todd Fischer and Ron Whittaker opened with 64s.

Frazar has made just seven cuts in 15 events this year. He has a pair of top-25 finishes, but golf has been one of the last things on his mind. His wife, Allison, was carrying twins, but one died in the womb at 12 weeks. Since then, his wife's grandmother died, his 3-year-old son had intestinal surgery and his 7-year-old son broke his arm. And the recent birth of his third son turned traumatic when the baby briefly stopped breathing and his heart rate dropped.

French Open

England's John Bickerton shot an 8-under 63 to take a two-stroke lead over New Zealand's Michael Campbell in the French Open.

Spain's Seve Ballesteros, making his first tour start in six months, shot an 81.

-- The Associated Press