General / Editor / 18 May 2007 /

Veteran American Kevin Sutherland leads the field by two shots following the opening round of the AT&T Classic at Sugarloaf.

The 42-year-old fired an opening round 65 on Thursday, which included eight birdies, to leave him on -7.

Sutherland admitted his delighted afterwards, saying: "I hit the ball very well. I was very pleased with the way I hit it. You're not going to shoot 65 very often, so it was a lot of fun."

Five players are in a group on -5, Stephen Marino, Tommy Armour III, Ryuji Imada, Bob May and Craig Kanada, after all carding rounds of 67.

A group of four are a further shot back on -4, including former USPGA champion Mark Brooks, while England's Brian Davis is four shots off the pace (-3).

Sutherland, who has finished in the top 10 just once in 12 events this season and has just one PGA title to his name, is the favourite at 11 with Betfair punters to claim victory on Sunday.

Rory Sabbatini and Stewart Cink, on -3 and -2 respectively after the opening round, are both trading at 15 while Sweden's Henrik Stenson (-2) can be backed at 16.

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