Hockey stars show they have fame, too

Roenick leads at plus-26, while

former NHL all-stars Hull and Larouche still in contention

By Jeremy Evans

Appeal News Service

STATELINE " Hockey players dominated the leaderboard in the first round of the American Century Championship. And, for the record, they are sick of hearing NFL quarterbacks talk about how their skill set translates to the golf course.

"Hey, let's tell it like it is," said the San Jose Sharks' Jeremy Roenick. "I think they're full of crap. There's no correlation."

While two of the past three ACC champions have been quarterbacks, Roenick can talk smack for at least one more day after he recorded a plus-26 to take the first round lead at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course.

Former NHL all-star Brett Hull, who played in the same group as Roenick, double bogeyed the first hole but rebounded to card a plus-25 to sit in second place going into today's second round.

Pierre Larouche, another former NHL all-star, is tied for third at plus-23 with four other players, including six-time winner Rick Rhoden and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Defending champion Chris Chandler and four-time ACC winner Dan Quinn are tied for 18th at plus-18.

"I could've made something happen today, but I just made a ton of bogeys," Quinn said. "I would've liked to have made two or more birdies, but it's far from over."

""I know it can happen at any time, but I also know the worst can happen at any time," Chandler said.

Hull, who retired from the NHL in 2005 with the third-most goals in NHL history (741), finished 10th in last year's tournament behind five quarterbacks. Like Roenick, a close friend who he's never been paired with at the ACC, Hull also isn't buying NFL quarterback's reasoning.

"I'm not really sure how that correlates," Hull said. "Throwing a football and swinging a club, as opposed to taking a slap shot and swinging a club? That's kind of a weird statement."

Rhoden, Larouche, Romo and Mark Rypien, the tournament's inaugural winner in 1990, are all tied for third at plus-23 and will attempt to stave off a field that's proven to be increasingly capable of scoring well under the modified Stableford format.

Vince Coleman held the first-round lead for most of the day before finishing tied for seventh with former NHL wide receiver Jerry Rice at plus-21. Going into the par-5 18th, Coleman was at the top of the leaderboard before he three-putted for bogey, a hole most top players expect to birdie.

"I loved my round today," said Coleman, a former all-star with the St. Louis Cardinals. "The most important word is consistency. As long as you drive the ball well and putt the ball well, you'll be there. My first-round score doesn't matter. It's all about giving myself my chance to win on Sunday."

The final round of the 54-hole tournament is on Sunday. NBC has live coverage of the event today from 1-3 p.m. and on Sunday from noon-3 p.m.

NOTES: Michael Jordan, whose signature has proved to be more difficult to get than a July rain shower, finished his round and signed for everyone surrounding the practice green...Romo hit an errant shot during his round that brushed up against a child. As luck would have it, the child had come all the way from Texas to see Romo ... Former NHL great Wayne Gretzky and his wife, actress Janet Gretzky, played in the same group on Friday and nearly carded identical scores. Janet tried to say they shot the same score, but Wayne ended with a stroke play score of 87 and Janet an 89...Charles Barkley isn't in last place going into Saturday's second round because Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler holds that honor after scoring a minus-42 to Barkley's minus-23.

Tribune sports editor Steve Yingling contributed to this report.