Former US PGA Championship winner Shaun Micheel is hoping a change in putter will help end a nine-year winless drought after posting a 5-under-par 67 on a rain-lashed first day of the 100th Spanish Open. Micheel, ranked 608th in the world, led by one stroke Thursday after eight birdies and a bogey on the last hole in extremely difficult conditions on the Real de Golf de Sevilla course. “It was just a battle of attrition out there,” Micheel said. “I played in the pro-am Wednesday and couldn't manage one birdie so I changed my putter to an Odyssey XG-7 center shaft and managed to hole eight birdies today.” The trio of Spain's Jorge Capillo and the England pair of Robert Rock and Danny Willett were tied in second place with scores of 68. The Memphis-based Micheel is competing on the European Tour under a 10-year exemption from winning the 2003 US PGA, his last victory. He's also balancing invitations on the US PGA Tour in an effort to regain full membership after forfeiting full playing rights at the end of last year. He has contested six US tour events this season and made the cut in five to lie 168th on the money list. Micheel, who played in the company of fellow major champions Rich Beem (78) and Michael Campbell (75), called on Spanish Open officials to reduce the height of the US Open-like rough, given the forecast for continued poor weather. Rock, who beat Tiger Woods in the Abu Dhabi Championship this year, capped his round with two eagles in four holes over his outward nine. Rock hit a 4-iron to six feet at the par-five 13th and holed the putt, and then landed an 8-iron to 25 feet at the par-five 16th and sank the putt. Rock is determined to cement a place in next month's US Open and avoid the drama he faced last year in arriving at Congressional only on the very eve of the event. The biggest disappointment on day one was the effort of Scotland's Paul Lawrie, who made a quadruple bogey and a double bogey in a round of 6-over 78. It was Lawrie's poorest round since an 81 on day three of last year's British Open.
