GOLF - HENKE TAKES LEAD IN MILWAUKEE , WOODS MAKES PRO DEBUT .
MILWAUKEE , Wisconsin 1996-08-29
Nolan Henke fired a nine-under-par 62 to grab a two-shot lead after the opening round of the $ 1.2 million Greater Milwaukee Open Thursday as 20-year-old Tiger Woods shot 67 in his professional debut .
Henke stood two strokes ahead of Bob Estes and three up on Billy Andrade , Duffy Waldorf and Jesper Parnevik .
Woods , who turned pro Tuesday after winning an unprecedented third successive U.S. Amateur Championship , almost eagled the 18th hole .
He settled for a birdie and a four-under opening round that left him five shots off the pace .
" Yesterday was the toughest day I 've had for a long time , " Woods said . "
Today , I got to play golf . "
He added : " I thought I got off off to a great start .
It was a perfect start .
I 'm in a good position . "
Henke , who called his round a " pleasant surprise , " finished with six birdies on the final eight holes .
" We finally got things going in the right direction , " he said . "
It was my best round in a very long time .
My short game has improved since I 've had to use it so often .
That 's always been the worst part of my game .
All in all , playing bad 's been a good experience . "
Henke , who came within one shot of the course record set by Andrew Magee during Wednesday 's pro-am , has three career PGA Tour victories , but none since the 1993 BellSouth Classic .
Estes , whose only win came at the 1994 Texas Open and whose best finish this year was a third-place tie at the Nortel Open in January , eagled the par-five fourth hole and added five birdies to grab sole possession of second place .
" No bogeys on the card , " he noted . "
Sometimes I take more pride in that . "
Woods was among a group of 13 players at four under , including 1993 champion Billy Mayfair , who tied for second at last week 's World Series of Golf , and former U.S. Open champ Payne Stewart .
Defending champion Scott Hoch shot a three-under 68 and was six strokes back .
Phil Mickelson , the only four-time winner on the PGA Tour , skipped the tournament after winning the World Series of Golf last week .
Mark Brooks , Tom Lehman and Mark O'Meara , who make up the rest of the top four on the money list , also took the week off .