Timonium, Md. ? Phil Blackmar, Bruce Fleisher and Des Smyth shot 5-under 65s on Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Senior Players Championship, the fifth and final Champions Tour major of the year. Blackmar holed out from the fairway for eagle to help offset four bogeys, Fleisher made four straight birdies early in his round, and Smyth had a bogey-free day to top the leaderboard. All three are winless this year.

Fred Funk, Scott Hoch, Bernhard Langer and Eduardo Romero opened with 66s, and 19 players were within three strokes of the lead after an ideal day for scoring.