Andrade, Coceres share lead in Iowa
Jun 6, 2015 - 12:41 AM Des Moines, IA (SportsNetwork.com) - Billy Andrade and Jose Coceres both fired 6-under 66s Friday and share the lead after the opening round of the Principal Charity Classic.Andrade claimed his lone tour victory earlier this year when he teamed with Joe Durant to win the Big Cedar Lodge Legends of Golf. Coceres has a pair of top-10 finishes in 23 career Champions Tour starts.
Defending champion Tom Pernice, Jr. opened with a 67 at the Wakonda Club. He was tied for third place at minus-5 with Mark Calcavecchia, Grant Waite, Paul Goydos, Brian Henninger, Michael Allen and Jeff Coston.
Durant and Bernhard Langer headline a group of six players that share 10th place at 4-under 68.
Andrade got going with birdies at the third and fifth. After a pair of pars, he birdied the par-5 eighth to move to minus-3.
Around the turn, Andrade jumped to 5-under with birdies at the 11th and 13th. He tripped to a 3-putt bogey at 14, but came right back with a birdie on the par-5 15th.
Andrade, a four-time PGA Tour winner, grabbed a share of the lead as he birdied the last.
"I played pretty solid all day and made seven birdies. I only made one bogey, I 3-putted 14," said Andrade. "It was nice to have a group that everybody's playing well, so we all fed off each other and drove the ball fairly good and felt good with the putter and made some nice putts and a good solid day."
Coceres opened with four pars in a row. He got on the board with birdies at five and seven, then posted four more pars from the eighth.
The Argentine caught fire in the middle of the back nine. He poured in three birdies in a 4-hole span from the 12th.
Coceres, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, birdied the par-4 18th to post 6- under.
"The course is in very good condition. Happy for me and for my very, very good golf today. I waited the last year and a half for this golf," admitted Coceres. "For me, I'm very happy here on the Champions Tour, it's very good for me. I maybe need to play more. I didn't play for four, five years before this, so coming here full time, I maybe need more condition and more confidence."
NOTES: Coceres and Andrade both posted their best opening-round score on the Champions Tour ... Andrade has not led after any round in a Champions Tour stroke-play event ... Carlos Franco made his Champions Tour debut and opened with a 1-over 73, which left him tied for 54th.
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