July 18, 2002

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In the oldest and perhaps most prestigious championship in the world, a former NC State golfer finds himself at the top of the leaderboard. Carl Pettersson, who played for coach Richard Sykes' Wolfpack in 1999 and 2000, carded a 4-under par 67 on Thursday to grab a share of the lead in round one of the British Open at the Muirfield Golf Links in Gullane, Scotland. Sitting just three shots off the pace is another ex-Wolfpacker. Tim Clark's 1-under 70 earlier in the day was good enough to match the score turned in by a fellow named Tiger Woods.

After opening with a pair of pars, Pettersson got hot with birdies at three, five and nine to go out in 33. A back nine of 34 included a bogey on 18 that prevented Pettersson from holding the first round lead outright. The native of Sweden is joined in the top spot by Americans Duffy Waldorf and David Toms.

Clark, who played at NC State from 1996-98, had an up and down round that included five birdies and four bogeys.

Perhaps it's no surprise that Pettersson and Clark performed well on Thursday. In their final tune-up for the Open Championship, both players put together strong showings in last week's Scottish Open. Clark finished in a tie for 3rd after firing three successive rounds in the 60s while Pettersson came in with a respectable 14th place finish.

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