ATHENS, Ga. -- Rich Barcelo, Michael Putnam, Geoffrey Sisk, Greg Owen of England and Argentina's Sebastian Fernandez each fired 6-under-par 66s Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Athens Regional Foundation Classic, the seventh stop on the 2008 Nationwide Tour schedule.
Barcelo, a 32-year old Las Vegas resident, grabbed the clubhouse lead by two in the morning session, but then a host of players from the afternoon wave closed the gap. Barcelo got to 6 under after a trio of birdies to open the back nine, but played the final six holes in even par.
Fernandez and Putnam finished within minutes of each other in the afternoon and were quickly followed by Sisk and Owen, who helped jam the top of the leaderboard.
Alex Prugh, also playing in the afternoon, is alone in sixth place, one shot back. Nine others are logged together at 4 under par. The par-72 Jennings Mill Country Club course played to a scoring average 73.006, with 63 players in the field of 156 posting par-or-better scores.
The five-way tie for the lead is the most players to share a first-round lead since last year's Oregon Classic, where eight players were tied after 18 holes, matching the Tour record.
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