Tain Lee leads Chris Williams by one stroke at Sahalee Players Championship

SAMMAMISH — Tain Lee shot a 5-under-par 67 to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Chris Williams after the opening round of the Sahalee Players Championship at Sahalee Country Club on Wednesday.

Lee, who won the 2010 NCAA Division III title for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and was fifth this year, was at 8-under through 15 but had a bogey and double bogey before finishing with a par.

Williams, who will be a senior at Washington this fall, is trying to become the first player in the event's 19-year history to win the title twice.

Lee quickly shot to the top of the leaderboard with a 5-under 31 on the front nine, including an eagle on No. 2. He also added three birdies and shot par on the five other holes.

Williams, golfing in the final group, started off dubiously with a double bogey on the par-4 first hole. He birdied five of the next seven holes and was at 3-under 33 after the front nine. He was steady on the back nine with a 1-under 35.

Joseph Winslow and Dimitrios Papadatos were tied for third, two strokes back at 69.

Beau Hossler, the 17-year-old star from Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) High who led in the second round of the U.S. Open last month, was in a three-way tie for fifth at 2-under 70.

Hossler finished two strokes behind Williams and in a tie for fourth with Kevin Penner of Sammamish and Sam Smith of Turlock, Calif.

Smith shot 70 Wednesday as did Pac-12 champion Andrew Yun of Stanford. Penner was among eight players shooting 1-under 71.

Six of the top-10 finishers from last years' championship are in the field, including runner-up Zac Blair of Brigham Young, who shot a 1-over 73, and Cheng-Tsung Pan of Sammamish, who is at 2-over 74.

Pan, a sophomore for the Huskies, is currently the world's 13th-ranked amateur golfer.

There are two rounds Thursday with the final round Friday.

From course reports.