Sadakata leads HP Classic

By Ralph D. Russo ~ The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS -- After shooting a 29 on the front nine, rookie Akio Sadakata started thinking about making history.

"I was thinking about the 59, but I didn't go that deep," he said.

Instead of becoming the fourth player to match the PGA Tour's magic number, Sadakata settled for a career-best 64 Thursday and a share of the first-round lead at the HP Classic of New Orleans.

Paul Stankowski had five birdies on the back nine to join Sadakata at the top of the leaderboard.

Eight golfers, including leading money winner Davis Love III, defending champion K.J. Choi and Jeff Sluman, were one shot back.

Stewart Cink, Stephen Ames, Scott Verplank, Mark Wilson and Brian Gay also shot 7-under 65s on the 7,078-yard English Turn course.

Sadakata, who turned 24 last week, has had an inauspicious start to his PGA career, making the cut three times in nine tournaments. His best finish was 53rd in the BellSouth Classic at Sugarloaf.

But he surpassed his best round of the year by three strokes Thursday by taking advantage of excellent playing conditions.

With his parents looking on, Sadakata started fast with the help of a nifty recovery on the par-5, 448-yard 2nd. After his drive hit a tree and kicked into a bunker, he chunked his second shot. But he hit a 9-iron to 10 feet, then dropped in the birdie putt.

"I birdied the first two holes and really got to feel comfortable," said Sadakata, who moved to the United States from Japan when he was 14 and lives in Tampa, Fla.

He completed the best nine holes of his career with an eagle on the par-4 9th. He said he didn't see his pitching wedge bounce in from 129 yards, but could tell by the crowd's reaction it had hit the target.

With only light winds rippling the flags and softer than normal greens, the course was primed for a bevy of low scores. The field of 156 delivered with 112 players finishing below par.

"I took advantage of a basically defenseless golf course," said Sluman, who didn't have a bogey. "Today's a day that if you don't play well, don't score well, there's nobody to blame but yourself."

One of the few times the wind stiffened it seemed to play a part in Sadakata's one bad hole -- a double-bogey on the par-4 16th.

His second shot into a crosswind was well short of the green and landed in the sand, the ball was about an inch from the lip of the bunker.

Unable to follow through, Sadakata's next shot blooped into the adjacent sand trap. He eventually two-putted.

"No, I wasn't frustrated," he said. "I wasn't thinking about the double-bogey."

He quickly got a stroke back, slowly rolling in a 15-foot putt from above the hole for birdie on the par-3 17th.

Choi seemed poised to be the first-round leader, but took a double-bogey on 18. His 4-foot putt to tie for the lead lipped out.

Choi still fared better than his marquee playing partners as Phil Mickelson shot a 70 and Charles Howell III a 68.

Love, a three-time winner this season, also slipped up on his final hole, taking a bogey on the 370-yard 9th.

Stankowski has held at least a share of the lead after the first round here in three of the last four years, but has never won.

Not one of the straightest hitters on tour, Stankowski said he likes the wide fairways of the Jack Nicklaus-designed course.

"They suit my game, they fit my shot," he said.