Lively pair battling for golf crown

SANDY — If Franklin Langham and Craig Lile are still tied by the weekend at the Utah EnergySolutions Championships, they could be quite a lively pairing to watch.

Lile, a 30-year-old from South Africa, and Langham, a 39-year-old from Georgia, both shot 8-under-par 63s within a half hour of each other Thursday at Willow Creek Country Club. Then, as Lile answered questions from a handful of reporters in the press room, Langham sat in the back and kept up a running commentary with his friend.

Sometimes it was almost hard for the reporters and moderator to get a word in as the two golfers joked back and forth.

"I'm not really a scoreboard-watcher, but I saw Franklin up there at 8-under and said, 'I better make this,"' Lile said of the 25-footer he drained at No. 18 to forge the tie.

Langham replied, "Are you tied with me? I thought you were one back."

Later when Lile said he sank an eight-foot birdie putt at No. 10, Langham interjected, "You made an 80-footer?"

"An 85-footer, actually," replied Lile.

And so it went as the banter continued until the end of the interview. When Lile was asked how long he's known Langham, he deadpanned, "We just met this morning."

The players actually know each other from playing together on the Nationwide Tour the past three or four years, but both players have PGA Tour experience.

Lile is a PGA Tour rookie this year, while Langham has played the big tour off and on since 1992, winning more than $4 million over that span.

While both are happy to be leading after Day One, they know a lot of low scores are out there.

Former Utah Open winner Todd Demsey and Curtis Malm are a stroke back at 64, while Tom Sherrer and Edward Loar stand at 65.

Among local golfers, Bountiful's Garrett Clegg has the best score, a 67, followed by Farmington's Daniel Summerhays at 68.

Lile qualified for this year's PGA Tour this year by finishing in a tie for 16th at the PGA Tour qualifying tournament last fall. He's only made eight cuts in 17 events and won $125,302, putting him 194th on the money list.

"I thought I might get a bit overwhelmed, but I haven't," he said. "I just haven't played well."