Rory Sabbatini shot 6-under-par 64 at Colonial Country Club to take the first-round lead at the Colonial to lead Patrick Sheehan and Mark Calcavecchia by a shot.
Did anyone notice?
"I don't mind if they don't notice," he said. "I just hope they don't notice until Monday. That would be even better."
Sabbatini, 27, is a fifth-year PGA Tour player with a victory at the 2000 Air Canada Championship who is from South Africa and attended the University of Arizona. He didn't mind that Annika Sorenstam is getting all the attention.
"I don't have a problem with it," he said. "I did the best I could and personally what I feel about my game is what counts and I'm very happy with the way I played."
LOW SCORES: The first-round scoring average was 69.848, the first time since 1997 it has come in under par. The 53 subpar rounds were the second-most ever during a first round at Colonial and the most since 1995.
"I don't think we've ever seen Colonial play this easy, where you saw a lot of low scores because of it," said Phil Mickelson, who won Colonial in 2000 and shot 67. "I'm surprised no one really went low because it was out there."
NEGATIVE VIBES: He is nowhere near as high-profile as Vijay Singh, so his negative comments toward Sorenstam last week did not resonate as loudly. But Fulton Allem, the 1993 Colonial champion, was just as harsh.
"You can't mix oil and water; it's as simple as that," Allem said. "I'm 100 percent behind Vijay because men can't play on the women's tour, so why should women be allowed to play on our tour? Obviously, there are people who want her to play, and there are people who don't want her to play. I'm one of those people that don't want her to play. She's a woman. I'm a man. She should do what women do. I'll do what men do."
Allem shot 75 Thursday, four strokes behind Sorenstam.
Among his other comments was this: "(If) you're a man ... what would you think if somebody said, "We're going to give your spot to a woman?' I'm taking nothing away from her. She's a great women's player, blah, blah, blah. But I don't walk around being nine months pregnant."
ODDS AND ENDS: Shigeki Maruyama aced the par-3 eighth with a 6-iron from 177 yards. It was the day's only eagle at Colonial. ... David Toms, who won two weeks ago in Charlotte, withdrew after just one hole due to a back injury.
