Grand Blanc, MI (Best E Casino) - Corey Pavin had a valid reason for not shooting 63.
"Well, I missed my 50-footer on 17," he said.
But the 15-time PGA Tour winner atoned for that "mistake" by holing plenty of other birdie putts on Thursday for a bogey-free eight-under 64 that earned him a share of the lead after one round of the Buick Open.
Pavin has now carded back-to-back 64s after he closed with that score on Sunday to end the Travelers Championship in a tie for 10th place. He shared the lead Thursday with Bo Van Pelt and Dudley Hart after a day of good scoring at Warwick Hills.
Briny Baird and Daniel Chopra were one shot back at seven-under 65, with Shigeki Maruyama, Woody Austin, Kenneth Ferrie and Jon Mills at six-under 66.
Thirty-eight more players were within five shots of the co-leaders, including Lee Janzen (67), Jim Furyk (68), Fred Funk (68) and Kenny Perry (69).
Pavin's 10th-place tie in Connecticut on Sunday marked his fifth top-15 finish this season -- the most times he has been inside the top 15 in a single year since 2004.
The 1995 U.S. Open champion hasn't won in two years -- and that victory, in Milwaukee, was his first in 10 seasons -- but he's back to using a putter he first picked up in 1984.
He shelved it in the mid-90s, only to pick it back up again last season. And now Pavin, the second-shortest hitter on the PGA Tour, is rolling in putts from all over the green.
"It was on the bench for over a decade, basically. I just brought it back out, thought I'd try it," said Pavin. "And it's been working pretty good since then. So I will just keep using it."
The 48-year-old veteran needed just 21 strokes of the old Bulls Eye putter on Thursday, placing him first in a field of 154.
"It's very high technology, so try to keep it quiet, will ya?" Pavin joked.
He started in an early-morning group off the No. 1 tee and opened the round with four pars before rattling off six birdies in the next eight holes.
Pavin used his putter to roll in a 40-footer from the fringe at No. 5 for his first birdie putt, then made three in a row from about 15 feet. He rolled in another 15-footer for birdie at the 11th, then holed a 22-footer at the 12th.
Pavin's putter got a little rest at the 16th, where he chipped to tap-in range for his seventh birdie. He had the clubhouse lead after rolling in his 18- footer at the 18th.
"I just made some really nice mid-range putts today and one kind of bomb," said Pavin. "But I was in position and hit most of the fairways. So it was a good, good day."
Van Pelt, who has missed two straight cuts and four of his last six, posted six birdies and an eagle for his 64. He carried a greenside bunker with his four-iron at the par-five seventh and rolled in a 10-foot putt for the eagle.
"Any time you can make an eagle, you feel like you jump start a little bit," said Van Pelt. "And probably the best thing was the next hole I pulled an iron shot and had a pretty tough two-putt down the hill. I made a nice two-putt par to kind of keeping my momentum going."
Hart birdied three straight holes ending at the 16th to join Pavin and Van Pelt in the lead. He had a 26-foot look at birdie at the 18th with a chance to take the lead by himself when the horn sounded for a weather delay.
The stoppage lasted less than 30 minutes. Hart came back out and two-putted for par to finish off his flawless 64.
"I had a pretty good rhythm going and you like to always keep it going and keep that rhythm," said Hart, "but I can't use that as an excuse. I still played pretty solid."
