Furyk in front at PURE Insurance Championship

Jim Furyk, who won his PGA Tour Champions debut last month, holds a one-shot lead after the first round of the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links.

Furyk sits one stroke in front of Cameron Beckman, Australia's Stephen Leaney and four-time major winner Ernie Els of South Africa. Furyk, Beckman and Els are 50 years old, the minimum age to appear on the Champions circuit, and Leaney is 51.

Els posted a victory in March during his third Champions start. Beckman is winless in two previous events on the senior tour.

Furyk registered five birdies in his first 11 holes before recording his lone bogey at No. 12. He rebounded with four more birdies in the next five holes.

Talking about the transition to the senior circuit, Furyk said, "I have a lot of good friends who have moved on to the Champions Tour and it's good to see them. It's good to get out there and rub elbows with some old friends. I definitely heard 'rookie' a lot. And they take their rookie stuff pretty seriously out here, like in the pro-ams. There's definitely a pecking order. ...

"Maybe there's a little bit more camaraderie out here. When you go to the pace of play in a practice round, it's significantly quicker. No one would deny practice rounds on the PGA Tour are deathly slow. It's a miserable day. I've positioned myself for nine holes out there because that's all I can handle."

Beckman, Leaney and Els each logged bogey-free rounds, with Els carding a hole-in-one on the 201-yard 12th hole.

Dicky Pride and Doug Barron share fifth place at 6-under 66, and seven players, including Germany's Bernhard Langer are tied for seventh at 4-under 68.

Defending champion Kirk Triplett is tied for 64th after a 3-over 75.

The event, which is normally played at both Pebble Beach and Poppy Hills, is being held entirely at Pebble Beach this year, with no fans present.

--Field Level Media