Small opens drive for five titles with sizzling 65 in Illinois Open

A very familiar name is back atop the leaderboard after the first round of the 60th Illinois Open at Hawthorn Woods.

Four-time Open champion Mike Small, the men's head golf coach at the University of Illinois, put together a monster front nine Monday, firing a 6-under 65, good for a 1-stroke lead over Josh Butterfield of Aurora.

Small, who nearly picked up his fifth title last year before losing out to amateur Joe Emerich of Palatine, made the turn at 1 under Monday afternoon and then went on a birdie barrage, racking up 5 birdies over his last 8 holes.

"I didn't make bogey and any time you do that, it is a solid round," said Small. "My back nine (the front nine) could have been 39; my short game really saved me today."

Winning this year's Illinois Open Championship would give Small five Illinois Open titles, tying Gary Pinns' record for most victories (1978, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1990).

Butterfield had to rally back from a tough start. His opening three holes consisted of a par, bogey and double-bogey.

"I got off to a rocky start," he said. "I was 3 over after three holes."

Butterfield was able to refocus after making an eagle on the 13th hole. He completed the remainder of his round with only pars and birdies, including a string of birdies on his final three holes.

Brad Benjamin, 22, of Rockford, who recently won the 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship over No. 1 seed Nick Taylor of Canada, is 4 shots off the lead after firing a 69 on Monday. Tied with Benjamin at 2 under are Matt Miller of Bloomington and Joseph Affrunti of Crystal Lake.

After a tough front nine, Emerich, the defending champion, worked his way back to even par thanks to 3 birdies on the back nine, but a double bogey on No. 18 left him at 2 over for the round. His 73 Monday has him in a tie for 32nd place.

Canadian Open: Nathan Green won the Canadian Open for his first PGA Tour victory, beating Retief Goosen with a par on the second hole of a playoff in the rain-delayed tournament in Oakville, Ontario.

• Associated Press contributed to this report.