GOLF : Sieckmann Fires 63 at Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS —  Tom Sieckmann was playing a mind game with himself over the last three holes at the Las Vegas Country Club.

“I’m thinking birdie-eagle-birdie’,” he said, a finish that would have matched the lowest 18-hole score in PGA Tour history.

But Sieckmann fell four strokes short with a par-par-par finish that produced a bogey-free, nine-under-par 63 and the first-round lead Wednesday in the five-day, 90-hole Las Vegas Invitational.

He said he recognized it was unlikely he could match Al Geiberger’s record 59 set in 1977, but added:

“You have to play mind games with yourself. When you get six or seven or eight under par, there’s a tendency to try to protect it.

“But in this tournament you know you can’t do that. You have to keep it going.”

As usual, the $1.5-million event played on three desert resort courses produced exceptionally low scoring, with more than half the pro field shooting in the 60s.

Tom Byrum shared second at eight under par with Bruce Fleisher and Kirk Triplett. Chip Beck led a group at 65 that included Ted Schulz, Brian Tennyson, Andy Bean, Bob Estes and Steve Jones.