Pohl, Weibring and Hatalsky Share First-Round Lead at 66

ABILENE, Tex. — Dan Pohl, who has emerged from the rank-and-file of the PGA Tour this year to become one of the leading money winners, shot a six-under-par 66 Thursday to tie D.A. Weibring and Morris Hatalsky for the first-round lead in the $400,000 Southwest golf tournament.

Pohl, who took last month off, is No. 4 on the money list this year with $440,563 in earnings. When he returned to the tour Thursday, he birdied the first three holes. “I didn’t expect a lot,” he said. “I just wanted to have some fun. And I did.”

Gusting winds blew across the Fairway Oaks Golf Club course, but scores were relatively unaffected.

“When I came out here, I saw a lot of low numbers,” said Pohl, who played in the afternoon, when there were gusts to 20 m.p.h. “Sure, you can have a couple of good scores in any conditions. But I was surprised at how many there were.”

PGA champion Bob Tway saw his chance to move into the No. 1 spot on the money list this week fade after shooting a 72. Tway needs to finish sixth or higher here to move ahead of Greg Norman.