Iraq War Veteran Chad Pfeifer leads American Century Golf

Retired United States Army Corporal Chad Pfeifer, an Iraqi War Veteran and amputee whose golf-centered rehabilitation has turned him into a top-tier tournament player leads the pack of celebrity golfers after day one of the 25th Annual American Century Championship.

"Didn't remember much," Pfeifer said after play Friday. "There was a lot of nerves, that's for sure. Just tried to play my own game and just tried to play steady golf."

Pfeifer shot a 24 with the Stableford format of scoring. He leads Jeremy Roenick (23), Mark Rypien (22) and a three way tie at 21 with Stephen Curry, Joe Sakic and Annika Sorenstam. Olympian Hilary Knight (-36) and Charles Barkely (-32) are at the bottom of the field.

Along the course Pfeifer was great with handshakes, hugs and applause from the gallery. But it's been fun. Everyone considers me a hero, but that's not guys in the military are just doing their job and that's how most of them feel. "Had some Vietnam era guys come up and thank me," Pfeifer said. "And it's really cool to get thanks from them. But they're the ones that should be getting the thanks because the way they were treated paved the way for how we've been treated. It's special, it's fun to have them come up and thank me."

Tomorrow he'll be teeing off at 10:50 a.m. with Mark Rypien and Jeremy Roenick. Rypien won the inaugural celebrity golf tournament in 1990.