Willis seizes Heritage golf lead with birdie bonanza

Garrett Willis' devotion to his old putter paid off as he reeled of six birdies in a row en route to a seven-under 64 and the first-round lead in The Heritage. The American, who has struggled with his putting this season, had planned to put a new putter in his bag, but at the last minute Thursday he told his caddie to get "Old Faithful" from the car. "Old Faithful" and Willis certainly got the job done, with a string of six straight birdies from the second hole at Harbour Town. He had three more birdies and two bogeys to take the lead in a round that was suspended by darkness after an earlier rain delay. India's Arjun Atwal, Matt Bettencourt, Chad Campbell and Tim Herron were in the clubhouse on 65, with Mark Wilson, Colombia's Camilo Villegas and 2009 Heritage winner Brian Gay a further shot back on 66. Luke Donald, ranked number three in the world, led a group on 67. A victory here could move the Englishman to the top of the world rankings. Donald, winner of the World Golf Championships Match Play Championship in February, is the highest ranked player in the field. After a slow start he birdied three of his final six to keep himself in contention. "A lot of people are telling me about" number one, Donald said. "So it's hard to put out of your brain. But that would be awesome." Even after his torrid round, Willis was keeping his goal more modest. "Obviously, very excited about putting this well, and having a chance to making the cut for a change," said Willis, whose only prior US PGA Tour title came at Tucson in 2001 -- which was his first tour start. He dropped to 228th on the PGA Tour money list in 2005 and regained his card in 2009 with a 12th-place finish on the developmental Nationwide Tour money list. This season Willis has made just two cuts in eight starts. "We can't make them all. I'm fully aware of that," he said. "But for some reason some of these guys do week in and week out." In hopes of finding that consistency on the greens he launched a search for a new putter, giving himself a choice of 10. He had planned to go with a belly putter that he used in a practice round on Tuesday. "I can't pull the trigger," he said of changing his mind about the switch. His decision wasn't looking great when he missed a 12-foot birdie attempt at the first hole, but he drained an eight-footer at the second. "I said, 'Wow, maybe I can make a putt,'" said Willis, who needed just one putt at each of the next five holes. Solid play into the greens meant all of his birdie putts were from within 15 feet. After bogeys at nine and 11, he nabbed back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16. "I made putts today that I normally don't make," he said. Defending champion Jim Furyk and reigning US Open champion Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland were in a group on 68. South African Ernie Els got off to a tough start with a 75 that included a two-shot penalty on the eighth, his penultimate hole, when he was deemed to have tested the playing surface by raking his footprints in a bunker before he made his shot out.