Tom Pernice Jr. and Scott Hoch teamed up for nine birdies en route to a 62 and the first-round lead of the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf.

The duo played their first 18 at the par-71 Ozarks National and spread their birdies equitably: three par-4s, three par-3s and all three par-5s.

“I got going early and I just kept filling it up and hitting some good shots. I told him early, I said, ‘Hey, I’ll get the front, you get the back,’ and that’s kind of what happened,” said Hoch.

“I’ll tell you what is tough coming in, it was tough getting the ball anywhere near these — had some tough winds on these. Should have birdied 17, that’s a short hole. But everything else was tough coming in, so we just couldn’t add to it.”

One further back, at 8-under par, were the teams of Roger Chapman / David Frost and Shaun Micheel / Loren Roberts, who also played their opening rounds at the Ozark course, the all-new Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw design.

“Well, my partner here was just putting great. He was hitting great shots,” said Roberts of the long-hitting Micheel. “I’m kind of the Mr. Par man, you know, and he hit some great shots.

“We ham-and-egged it really well today. It’s a huge advantage that I’m with him because of his length, you know. So we were looking at birdies almost every hole and if we did miss one, you know, we got it up and down.”

Also in the T2 group was the team of Ken Tanigawa / Gene Sauers, who went 8 deep (46) at the par-3 Top of the Rock, a Jack Nicklaus Signature course.

“We pretty much ham-and-egged it. I putted good earlier in the round and carried me late,” joked Sauers.

Rounding out the top-5 at 7 under were the brother team of Brad Bryant / Bart Bryant alongside the duo of Scott Parel / Larry Mize, who matched 64s at the Ozark.

“Well, my partner made a great eagle at the first hole and made a nice birdie at the third, and I was able to sneak in at 4 to help him out a little bit,” said Mize, the former Masters champion.

The twosome of Paul Goydos / Kevin Sutherland joined the T5 group after signing for a 47 at the Top of the Rock.

Top-5 Leaders: Round One

Pos-Team-To Par (Score)
1. Pernice Jr. / Hoch -9 (62)
2. Chapman / Frost -8 (63)
2. Micheel / Roberts -8 (63)
2. Tanigawa / Sauers -8 (46)
5. Parel / Mize -7 (64)
5. Bryant / Bryant -7 (64)
5. Goydos / Sutherland -7 (47)