STERLING, Va. -- Shrugging off fatigue from last week's victory, Bernhard Langer shot a 7-under 65 Thursday to share the lead with Larry Mize after the first round of the Senior PGA Championship.
The 59-year-old Langer could break Jack Nicklaus' record of eight senior majors with a win at Trump National. He tied Nicklaus last week with a five-shot victory at the Regions Tradition. He would also become the first player to win all five of the current senior majors.
The 58-year-old Mize, who has one career victory in nine seasons on the PGA Tour Champions, was 5 under through 10 holes when play was halted Thursday evening because of thunderstorms. He added three more birdies and a bogey Friday morning.
Known for his smooth putting stroke, Mize had just 25 putts in the first round.
Langer started with five straight pars on a cool, misty day before sparse galleries. The start was delayed 80 minutes because of overnight rain that saturated President Donald Trump's already-soft course on the shores of the Potomac River, about 25 miles from Washington.
"I was really tired on Monday and Tuesday, really low on energy,'' Langer said. "Today, I felt fine. I got up early at 5 a.m. and went through my stretching routine and stuff and then heard about the delay, so sat around for an hour and a half, got all stiff again, so that part didn't help.''
Langer pumped his fist when he rolled in his first birdie, an 18-footer at the par-4 sixth hole. That started a run of six birdies in eight holes that tied him for the lead at 5 under. He missed only two fairways and just one green in regulation, leading to his only bogey.
"I hit a lot of good putts,'' Langer said. "There was one or two other ones that actually I thought I made them and they just went over the edge, or one actually lipped out, but I also had two or three that went in that don't go in every day.''
He finished his round by leaving a 2-hybrid from 216 yards within 3 feet for eagle on the par-5 18th.
"I had a very good yardage,'' Langer said. ``I knew if I hit it somewhat solid it should land near the hole and it landed perfectly.''
The PGA of America allowed players to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairways and moved up some tees on the soggy course so that it played at just under 7,000 yards.
Vijay Singh, who still plays a full PGA Tour schedule with occasional starts on the over-50 tour, was one shot back after a 66.
Tom Lehman, who was among a group two shots back at 67, said the course played short.
"They shortened the course quite a bit [due to the weather]," said Lehman, who briefly had the lead until he chunked a 4-iron into the water on 18, leading to a bogey. "And it turned out to be such a nice day, the course played incredibly short.''
Lee Janzen, Scott McCarron and James Kingston were also two shots behind Langer among the early starters. Kingston, a South African who got into the field by finishing among the top 20 in money on the European Senior Tour, tied Langer at 7 under before two late bogeys.
Langer has 31 career victories and $22 million in earnings on the PGA Tour Champions, trailing only Hale Irwin's 45 wins and $27 million. He has won the money list eight times in nine seasons.
"I feel like Bernhard is catchable, but you've got to play awfully, awfully well,'' Lehman said. "He's accomplished so much, but yet I think we all still feel that he can be beat. It's just that you need to play really well to do it.''