Jones' 64 leads by one shot at Players

His opening round was just one shot off the tournament record.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- With so much hype over the Big Four, hardly anyone noticed Steve Jones until he started pouring in birdies from one side of the green to the other, not stopping until he was one shot off the course record and in the lead Thursday at The Players Championship.
As long as he's been away from the PGA Tour, it's a wonder anyone knew who he was.
Last seen riding around in a cart as an assistant captain at the Ryder Cup, Jones stole the spotlight from the stars on the tame TPC at Sawgrass with an 8-under 64 for a one-shot lead over Fred Funk, Zach Johnson and Lee Westwood.
"Eight birdies, no bogeys. That's a good thing, right?" Jones said, showing he hasn't forgotten everything about life on the PGA Tour, despite having to sit out all of last year with his third major injury.
Maybe it was just a coincidence that first-round scoring at Sawgrass (71.87) was the lowest since 1996, the year Jones won the U.S. Open at Oakland Hills.
Hasn't won in seven years
He hasn't won in seven years, and an elbow injury left him so uncertain about his future that he dabbled in commercial real estate and house painting in case he needed another career to fall back on.
"I think he's healthy now," Vijay Singh said. "He's no mug. He can play."
Singh continued to show the best form of the Big Four, matching his best start ever at The Players Championship with a 5-under 67 that was highlighted by two good par saves in the middle of his round and a mammoth tee shot on the 18th that set up a birdie.
Woods, Mickelson at 70
The others broke par, but couldn't keep up with Jones.
Phil Mickelson made seven birdies, only to come undone with shots under trees and under water, in shooting a 70. Tiger Woods failed to birdie any of the par 5s until his last hole and shot 70. Ernie Els had a 71.
It was the first time all four of them broke par in the first round.
Big deal.
Sawgrass has rarely been this soft and still, and it showed in the low scores. Even the island-green 17th, the most daunting par 3 in golf, played under par.
Three players holed out from the fairway for eagle, as the pins were cut in accessible positions.
"They're all pretty much the easiest pins we'll see," Mickelson said.
87 at par or better
It was no surprise that 87 players were at par or better, and 29 players were in the 60s.
Westwood had a chance to join Jones at the top until he missed a 5-foot birdie putt on his final hole, the par-5 ninth.
Sergio Garcia was among those at 6-under 66, although the 25-year-old Spaniard was slightly disappointed after ripping a 3-wood from 281 yards over a tree and onto the green at the ninth, where it rolled by the hole to about 8 feet. He missed that eagle putt, and missed a 3-footer for birdie on No. 4.
Jones, 46, not only produced the best golf, he even delivered the punch line. Asked about all the attention placed on Singh, Woods, Els and the battle for No. 1, he smiled and said, "Then along came Jones."
He thought his career might be over when he suffered a severe elbow injury two years ago. His health returned, but it wasn't until a recent conservation with Hale Irwin that Jones decided to kick it into gear. He wouldn't divulge details of the motivational speech, but the gist was to stop complaining and go to work.
"I've felt that something was going to happen soon," Jones said.
The birdies came in bunches -- seven of them in an eight-hole stretch, including putts of 25, 40 and 50 feet.
The most important might have been the shortest, when his tee shot landed in a divot on No. 4, leaving him a delicate 90-yard shot over water to a front hole location.
"I could have complained about it, but I said, 'You know how to hit this shot.' I just choked way down on a pitching wedge ... and I hit it a foot," Jones said. "That was a big turning point."
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