Natchez — Thanks to an improbable putt for eagle on the par-5 18th hole, the team of Wesley Rogers and Christian Krueger ended up with a share of the lead in the first round of the 2008 Coca-Cola Four-Ball Scramble at Beau Pré Country Club.

Rogers and Krueger overcame a bogey on the 13th hole to finish at 8-under-par 64 to be the co-leaders with the team of Doe Myhand and Glen Allen of Lafayette, La. The team from Natchez also had seven birdies in its round.

“Unbelievable the way Wesley putted. He made six putts over 20 feet,” Krueger said. “He made an eagle on 18. I made a 30-footer for par on No. 3. I’ve never seen anyone putt that well ever. They were breaking a couple of feet. We drove the ball well. We were on the green in two almost every hole.”

But if had not been for clutch putting Saturday, Krueger and Rogers may not have even ended up in the championship flight. Myhand and Allen birdied eight of their first 12 holes before making pars on their final six holes.

The team of Dwayne and Dean Brown, who are both originally from Natchez with Dwayne now living in Lafayette and Dean residing in Brandon, is just one shot back with a round of 7-under-par 65, as is another team from Lafayette, Ricky Vernon and Kenny Savage.

“That’s about as well as we could play today. Beautiful weather. Beautiful course,” Dwayne Brown said. “Five birdies and an eagle on 18. That was a nice way to finish. We kept the ball in play. We had one or two holes where one of us was out of play.”

The team of Vernon and Savage had eight birdies to go with one bogey.

All seven teams that shot a 5-under-par 67 made the championship flight. Among those teams were Jason Rooks and Larry Davis as well as Tom Matthews and Jeff Anderson.

“We played well as a team. Made three birdies in a row on the front. Couldn’t get it going on the back,” Davis said. “Three-putted on 14 for our only bogey. Two birdies coming in to get to 5-under. Couldn’t make any putts.”

“We played good today. Made a few putts today and missed a few,” Matthews said. “Maybe tomorrow we’ll make some more putts.”

Among the team that ended up in the first flight is the team of Bobby Meason and Charlie Moroney, which started at 3-over-par after the first four holes only to birdie four holes to finish at 1-under-par 71.

“Mr. Moroney’s a great player,” Meason said.

An even 100 players from not only Natchez but parts of central and south Louisiana are participating in this year’s two-man scramble. But for a while, Beau Pré golf pro Dwayne David didn’t think there would be anywhere near 50 teams.

“I was pleasantly surprised. We had the same amount this year we had last year,” David said. “I was pleased considering the storms hitting central and south Louisiana. We get a good turnout from those areas affected by the storms. Last week we had 25 teams and then we had a good rush of teams sign up.”

Tee times for today’s final round start at 8:30 a.m.