I am not the Walrus, says Shanghai leader Stadler

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Kevin Stadler is still best known as the son of former U.S. Masters champion Craig but he put himself up with the best in the sport when he equaled the course record at the $5 million Champions on Thursday.

The 27-year-old American put in a round his father would have been proud of to match the mark of eight-under-par 64 set by Tiger Woods, Henrik Stenson and Michael Campbell last year as well as Niclas Fasth earlier in the day.

Freed of the worry that he might lose his U.S. PGA tour card -- he finally secured it last weekend -- Stadler hit nine birdies with a single bogey to share the first round lead at Asia's richest tournament.

"I was right on the bubble pretty much the last six weeks of the year and just played very poorly for about a month in a row there, and then I had a good one last week," he told reporters.

"I wasn't letting it ... I was trying not to let it bother me, but it was pretty apparent that I was a little on edge. I felt better right after when I was through with all of that."

Although he shares 13-times U.S. Tour winner Craig's girth and sports a goatee, Stadler said he had "thankfully" managed to avoid being lumbered with a variation on his father's nickname -- the Walrus -- and had never felt under pressure to match his success.

"I'm just really enjoying myself," he said. "I knew this is what I wanted to do at a young age. I grew up following him around, and I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing but this was all I really knew.

"I grew up out here and love the lifestyle and it's kind of what I looked forward to doing with my life.

"But now that I've made it out here, I kind of need to readjust my goals because I'm kind of happy being where I am right now."