Rocco Mediate, the 2000 champion, took advantage of a rain softened Warwick Hills on Thursday by shooting an 8-under 64 in Grand Blanc, MI. He carded matching 32’s on the front and back with 8 birdies and no bogies. Hitting just 8 of 14 greens, Mediate more than made up for it by hitting 88.9% of greens in regulation. Brett Quigley, Brian Bateman, and 1995 champion Woody Austin are locked up in a tie for second at -7.

Mediate said about his round, "It was just solid. I drove good. I had good irons. This has been one of the best years of my life coming out of this injury again. I’m ecstatic. I’ve had some nice weeks this year."

Jim Furyk fired a 6-under 66 with seven birdies and one lone bogey coming on the par 4 18th hole. This has extended Furyk’s streak of 34 consecutive rounds under par at Warwick Hills. He has also shot 47 of his last 48 rounds at the Buick Open at even or better.

"I think I come here with a lot of good memories and a lot of good rounds under my belt," he said. "I come to an event like this thinking about trying to get myself in position, what’s it going to take, what do I need to work on, how is the course playing this week, what’s it going to take to get myself in a position through the first few rounds so that come Sunday I might have a chance to win this golf tournament."

Cameron Beckman, Steve Elkington, and Scott Verplank all joined Furyk in a tie for fifth.

Most of Michigan was hit by scattered rain and thunderstorms on Wednesday which further softened Warwick Hills. The receptive greens made for some interesting situations for the players.

"It makes it difficult because you can’t control the spin," said Woody Austin. "No matter how good you are, when the flag is in the back, let’s say the flag is in the back of the green and you have 100 yards, it’s awfully hard, the way the greens are right now, it’s hard to hit it to 50 yards without spinning the ball. If you have 100 yards to a back flag, there’s almost four different clubs in your bag you can hit to it, based on what you’re trying to do."

Friday is looking to be a perfect scoring day in Flint, MI. With sunny skies and light winds, expect the players to continue the freefall through the red numbers.