Watney strikes it hot in Nevada

NickWatney_high_s

The American tallied 18 points in the modified-Stableford scoring system deployed by the PGA Tour event in Reno, with each of his birdies worth two points.

Watney has a two-point lead on Australia's Geoff Ogilvy and New Zealand's Tim Wilkinson (16).

Ogilvy went bogey-free in his opening round, while Wilkinson bounced back from two front-nine bogeys to reel off five straight birdies after the turn to rocket into contention at the Montreux Golf and Country Club.

Scotland's Martin Laird and American Chad Campbell are tied for fourth on 13 points, while among a tie for sixth are a quartet of locals - Kevin Chappell, John Huh, John Rollins and Wes Roach all on 12 points.

No less than 12 players are on 11 points in a tie for 10th, among them Tommy Gainey and George Coetzee.

American Gainey and South Africa's Coetzee were among the rare few to chalk up an eagle in their rounds, which earned them five points, as they tallied 11 respectively for their opening rounds.

Joining the pair inside the 'top 10' - which was expanded to 21 players through 18 holes - were Americans Woody Austin, Derek Ernst, Eric Axley, Doug LaBelle II, Patrick Rodgers, Kevin Lucas; Australians Nathan Green and Rod Pampling; New Zealand's Danny Lee; and South Korea's DH Lee.

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