CHAMPIONS

• Watson gets off to great start in title defense

  
  

  Lutz, FL (Sports Network) - Defending champion Tom Watson recorded 10 birdies en route to an eight-under 63 on Friday and the first-round lead at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am.

  David Eger and Mark Wiebe, who won the last event on the Champions Tour, the Cap Cana Championship, are tied in second at five-under 66.

  Two-time winner this year Scott Hoch, Mark James and Vicente Fernandez share fourth at minus-four.

  This event features professionals playing with celebrity amateurs for the first two rounds.

  Watson began on the back nine Friday and did not get off to the kind of start one would think of for a first-round leader. He knocked a nine-iron 25 feet from the hole at 10, but blew the birdie putt six feet past. Watson missed the par putt, but saved par at his next two, including a 10-footer at 11.

  At the 13th, Watson rolled in a six-footer for birdie. He tapped in for birdie at 14 and polished off three birdies in a row thanks to a 25-footer.

  Watson's last hiccup of the round came at the par-three 17th. He hit a terrible four-iron tee shot that barely cleared the water and chipped up to eight feet. Watson missed the par save, but holed a six-footer for par at 18 to make the turn at one-under 35.

  The eight-time major winner caught fire on his second nine. At No. 1, Watson sank a 25-footer for birdie, then narrowly missed a 12-footer for birdie at the second.

  Watson went on a tear starting at three. He hit his second to 12 feet on the fringe, but made the putt to get to three-under for the championship. Watson sank a 50-footer for birdie at four to keep his run going.

  At the fifth, Watson hit a sand-wedge to 10 feet and holed it for his third straight birdie. He hit a seven-iron to three feet to set up the tap-in birdie at the sixth and made it five in a row with a short birdie putt at the par- five seventh.

  "It's like the Pony Express. You ride it until it drops," joked Watson. "Because you know there are going to be sometimes when nothing's going to happen right. Everything seemed to happen right today."

  Watson had a good look at a sixth consecutive birdie, but his 12-footer at eight died left. He hit a five-iron to 15 feet at his last and drained the putt for a back-nine 28 and the first-round lead.

  "I've always had the philosophy, you get as far ahead as you possibly can, because if you make a mistake, you're still in the lead," said Watson, who is trying to become the first player to successfully defend his title at this event. "People say they want to come from behind, well, that's all right. Let the other people feel the pressure. But I like getting out in front and running with it."

  Bobby Wadkins, Tom Purtzer and Mike Reid are knotted in seventh at three-under 68.

  Bernhard Langer, the leading money winner on the Champions Tour, is part of a large group tied for 10th at two-under 69. Mark O'Meara, Larry Nelson and Mike Hulbert, making his debut on the elder circuit this week, are among the players tied with Langer.

  04/18 18:47:36 ET