Cochran Opens with 66 at SAS Championship


Russ Cochran fired a 6-under 66 to take the opening-round lead in the SAS Championship. The 54-hole, $2.1 million Champions Tour event started Friday at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, N.C.

Cochran, a 53-year-old from Paducah, Ky., who won the event in 2010, posted three birdies on the front nine and three more on the back to go a stroke up on Andrew Magee, Steve Pate, Jay Don Blake and Fred Funk.

"I was pretty smooth out there, I got the ball in play for the most part," Cochran told reporters. "I missed maybe two or three fairways, but I felt like I had pretty good control."

Two shots behind Cochran are defending champion Kenny Perry, Allen Doyle, Gene Sauers, Bernhard Langer and Gary Hallberg. Ten players shot 69.

Making his debut on the over-50 circuit, Neal Lancaster posted a 72. Joey Sindelar withdrew before the start of the tournament.

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