Former Pro Bowl lineman Kyle Williams leads at the American Century Championship

LAKE TAHOE, Nev. - It's an unfamiliar face on top of the leaderboard after the first round of the 31st annual American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe.

Kyle Williams, former Pro Bowl defensive tackle for the Buffalo Bills, came into the clubhouse with a 25 in the modified Stableford scoring system used at the tournament.

Right behind him are John Smoltz and Tony Romo tied at 20. Romo is going for a three-peat as the champ of the tournament. Jack Wagner, Mardy Fish, and Carson Palmer are at 18, Mark Mulder, Dell Curry, Vinny Del Negro, and Case Keenum are at 17, Derek Lowe and Roger Clemens are tied with a 16, Jim McMahon at 15, Steph Curry at 14, Deron Williams and Bret Baier are tied with 13. For a list of all the scores, visit http://www.scoring.r2it.com/golf/acc/Leaderboard.aspx.

There are just 70 players in this year's event, down from the normal 90 that like to show up and play.

After he finished his round, Williams made it to the post-round press conference for the first time.

Q. Any particular message for the quarterbacks in this group? Usually, the quarterbacks are the ones that have excelled in this event. And I think this is the lowest score by a defensive lineman that we’ve ever had.

A. Well, I’m here holding it down for the 300-plus pound guys. I may not be there anymore, but I used to be. So I’m a card-carrying member. So big boys can play too, said Williams.

Williams says he doesn't work out anymore since he had to do it for so long (he played college football at LSU and spent 13 years with the Bills). He said he might be 290 now.

"Looking forward to a fun weekend," said Williams.

"He’s got a great swing. He’s a great guy. I’m happy for his score today, I think it’s cool," said defending champ Tony Romo at the end of round one. "That’s the other part, you don’t see a lot of linemen come out and play great golf. And he’s just a rare guy who has a unique ability for hand/eye coordination and to take that to the golf course."

World Series champion and Cy Young Award winner John Smoltz, who is tied with Romo, said Williams us a "really good player" and his performance Friday did not surprise him.

The second round gets underway at 8:30 a.m. at Edgewood on Saturday. (see pairings here) The tournament was shown on NBCSN Friday and will be carried at 7:00 p.m. Friday night on the Golf Channel. Saturday the second round will be carried on NBC from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and repeat performance on the Golf Channel at 7:00 p.m. Sunday's final round will be broadcast with the same schedule.

On Monday, the Golf Channel will feature all nine hours of the American Century Championship. All can also be seen on the NBC Sports app.