SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Jeff Quinney, a playoff loser last week, fired a 9-under-par 63 Thursday and shares the lead with Doug LaBelle after one round of the Price Cutter Charity Championship.
Scott Dunlap, who claimed his lone tour win at the 2004 Mark Christopher Charity Classic, carded an 8-under-par 64. He was joined in third place by Kyle Thompson, Jeff Burns and Jess Daley.
Scoring conditions were excellent in the opening round as 117 of the 156 players shot under par for their rounds.
Quinney lost in a playoff to Brandt Snedeker last week at the Scholarship America Showdown. That was his third top-5 finish this season, but he is still without a victory this year.
The 2000 U.S. Amateur champion started on the back nine Thursday and birdied each of his first three holes. He drained a 4-foot birdie putt on No. 14 at Highland Springs Country Club to move to minus-four.
Quinney, who was in the first group off in the morning, turned in 5 under thanks to a birdie on the 17th. Around the turn, he birdied two of his first three holes. The 27-year-old drained back-to-back birdies from the par-4 seventh to grab his piece of the lead.
‘Bogey-free round, so I am happy,’ Quinney exclaimed. ‘That was one of the easier 63s I’ve ever shot. After last week’s playoff loss, that was a good way to rebound. I was relaxed and confident out there.’
LaBelle also started on the second nine Thursday and he opened with consecutive birdies from the 10th. He carded birdies on 15 and 18 to make the turn in 4 under.
The 31-year-old, who was in the first group off in the afternoon, also birdied the first and second to make it three in a row. After a par on the third, LaBelle ran home a 60-foot birdie putt on the fourth.
LaBelle parred the next three before closing with back-to-back birdies from the eighth to cap a bogey-free round.
‘It was just a solid round all day. The key to my round is I played the holes that don’t set up well for me smarter,’ LaBelle admitted. ‘My game has felt good most of the year. Anytime you’ve gone through 18 holes without a bogey, you know you’ve saved a few shots during the round.’
Ricky Barnes, the 2002 U.S. Amateur champion, posted a 7-under-par 65 on Thursday, He shares seventh place with Boo Weekley, Jeremy Anderson, Josh Broadaway, Cliff Kresge and Knoxville Open winner Hunter Haas.
Ken Duke, who won the Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs, stands alongside Henrico County Open winner Matt Kuchar and five other players at minus-6.
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