Romero leads PGA Senior Championship

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C., May 24 (UPI) -- Eduardo Romero conquered Hawaii's difficult Kiawah Island Ocean Course Thursday to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Senior PGA Championship.

Romero, in his first Champions Tour appearance of the year, shot a 4-under 68 on the course that hosted the Ryder Cup in 1991.

Only seven players broke par, with Joe Ozaki firing a 69 and Chip Beck a 70. Brad Bryant, Nick Price, Denis Watson and Massy Kuramoto all shot 71.

Among those at 72 were Mark O'Meara, Loren Roberts, Scott Hoch, Jay Haas and Craig Stadler.

Romero, 52, played mistake free until he missed an 18-inch par putt on the 18th hole.

"It's very good for me to start like this," Romero said. "Normally I'm just a bad starter in all the tournaments and then I get better and better."

Romero won last year's JELD-WEN Tradition, a major event on the Champions Tour. The native of Argentina was the only international player to win on the circuit in 2006.

Winds gusted as high as 30 mph Thursday and the average score was 77 -- highest on the tour this year.