Erik Compton and Matt Every Are Your Leaders at the Greenbrier Classic

The golfing day got off to a good start, with the women competing in the final LPGA major of the 2010 season, and saw two women atop the leaderboard at the end of round one. There are also two on top of the leaderboard at the Greenbrier Classic, as Erik Compton and Matt Avery both got the birdies going and shot 63 to sit at 7-under for the tournament.

Now you might be thinking that this is just an ordinary story of two golfers sitting on top of the leaderboard after the first round. It is not.

See, Erik Compton is playing this week on a sponsor’s exemption. Oh, and he’s a double heart transplant recipient. And now he’s leading after the first round of a PGA tour event. While making great shots and missing key putts may be the focus of most golf tournaments, this story will be one that completely overshadows all of that if Compton continues to stay at the top of this tournament.

We all knew that scores were going to be low at this event, since a lot of the talk heading into the week was about how short the course would play. And luckily, Compton took advantage of that to get off to a fast start, and hopefully provide us with one of the best stories that we’ve seen in professional golf in a while if he can go coast to coast and get the win.

As for the man joining him at the top right now, Every had a very solid round that was capped off in style on the back nine. Every birdied 10, 16, 17, and 18, while adding an eagle on the par 5 12th, and did what most players like to do in a tournament: finish a round with confidence. He did just that on the last three holes, and will look to build off today’s finish in the second round tomorrow.

The trio of George McNeill, Pat Perez, and Jeff Overton are all one shot back at 6-under, with five players two shots back of the lead.

A few other notables from the first round:

- Dean Wilson is only three shots back after shooting 66 on the round, is looking to bounce back after the tough finish last week at the Canadian Open.

- Ben Crane, Stuart Appleby, and Paul Goydos are all at 4-under as well.

- Jim Furyk couldn’t get a whole lot going, and is currently at 2-under after round one. As is Sergio Garcia and Davis Love III.

- My pick for the week, Matt Kuchar shot a 1-under 69 and is six shots back. C’mon Matt, you gotta make me look good.

You can check out the rest of the first round scores at PGATour.com and see where everyone else finished up after the first day at the Greenbrier.

What are your thoughts on round one of the Greenbrier Classic?

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