Friday, May 26 2006 16:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Memphis (Tennessee): Chris Smith, struggling through a difficult season, fired a bogey-free 64 Thursday to take a two-shot lead after the first round of the US$4.9 million St. Jude Classic.

Smith, who was among the first players to tee off at the TPC at Southwind, had four birdies on the front nine, including the last three holes. He added two more coming in and was done shortly after noon, spending most of the day watching the rest of the field come up short.

"It's nice to be here after one day, so I'm certainly not going to go back to my hotel and start figuring out what I'm going to hit on 18 (on) Sunday," Smith said.

Smith has not played much on Sunday this year. In eight starts, he has missed the cut five times. His best finish is a tie for 42nd at last month's BellSouth Classic.



"Believe it or not, it's hard to tell by how much money I've made this year, but I played pretty well," said Smith, who has won just 39,020 dollars in 2006," he said.

"I felt like if I just get a couple rounds where everything started clicking together and working, I was playing well, and I kind of felt like that all year," he said.

The first prize of 936,000 dollars would go a long way toward getting Smith's earnings closer to where he would like them.

However, he has won just once in 263 career starts since turning pro in 1991, claiming the 2002 Buick Classic.

Smith has discussed the perils of pro golf with good friend David Gossett, another player with a PGA Tour win to his credit now toiling primarily on the Nationwide Tour. Gossett shot a five-over 75 on Thursday.



"We're out here every single week against the 150 best in the world, and I try to tell him,

'How would you like to be locked in a courtroom with the 150 best lawyers every week and try to be on top with the lawyers?'" Smith said.

"It's a hard thing," he said.

"The struggles that these guys have, it's kind of hard to figure out how it happens because your confidence can go so fast in this game. And the confidence goes a little bit, you're playing the best in the world. It makes you look like you're doing a lot worse than you are," he said.

Alone in second on 66 was D.A. Points, another player who has struggled this season in missing eight of 12 cuts, including three in a row.

Points found some rhythm Thursday.

Starting on the 10th, he had five birdies and a bogey before playing his final nine holes at par, scrambling to save par at one, seven and eight.

"The front nine, I just hit it on the greens and a bunch of I made three, actually - huge up-and-downs," Points said.

"Those three pars could have taken the momentum away from me. Instead, they kind of gave me momentum to keep my round going," he said.

Tom Pernice and Paul Azinger were tied for third at 67, one stroke better than a group of seven that included Zimbabwe's Nick Price and Fred Funk.

David Toms, who has won twice and finished second and fourth in his last four starts here, carded a 69. Defending champion Justin Leonard struggled to a 72.

Tim Herron, who snapped a seven-year victory drought with a win at the Colonial last week, signed for a 70.