CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Unheralded Ted Goin is at the top of the leaderboard at the SBC Senior Open.

Goin fired a bogey-free 6-under-par 66 Friday at the Harborside International Golf Center for a one-stroke lead over four players, including three-time champion Hale Irwin.

A 52-year-old Florida native in his second year on the Senior PGA Tour, Goin birdied the final two holes to complete his best round since a career-best 64 at last year's TD Waterhouse Championship. He also shared the first-round lead at the Senior PGA Championship, where he ended up tied for 60th.

Irwin, whose week began amid controversy, capped a 67 with birdies on three of his last four holes and is tied for second with Tom Wargo, Roy Vucinich and Bob Eastwood. Seven players are two shots back, including Jim Colbert, Jay Sigel and Doug Tewell.

Defending champion Dana Quigley struggled through his worst round of the year, a 6-over 78 that left him 12 strokes off the pace.

Goin was the first group to tee off and expected his score to be bettered on a course with receptive greens and little wind. But it held up and made him the first player to hold sole possession of the first-round lead at this tournament since 1998.

Goin started and finished strongly, opening with back-to-back birdie putts of 10 and three feet. Another 10-foot putt at the 180-yard sixth hole interrupted a string of 10 pars, a streak that ended nicely at the par-4 14th hole with yet another 10-footer.

At the par-4 17th hole, Goin lobbed a pitching wedge within five feet of the cup, rolling in the putt to get to 5-under. He reached 6-under with a two-putt birdie at the 522-yard finishing hole.

Irwin was criticized at the beginning of the week by Jim Thorpe, who described the winningest player in Senior Tour history as "cocky" and "not fan-friendly." Thorpe later called and apologized, and Irwin appeared unaffected Friday as he offset a bogey with six birdies using an old putter.

Any putter would have worked on many of the putts for Irwin, who rolled in four from inside nine feet. But he also made a 15-footer at the par-4 16th hole during his closing kick.

Playing his 500th Senior Tour event, 66-year-old Orville Moody carded a season-best 2-under 70. Only Miller Barber (576) and Harold Henning (520) have played more tournaments on golf's elder circuit.

A par-72 layout measuring 6,970 yards, Harborside is hosting this tournament for the first time. Irwin won in 1995 at the Stonebridge Country Club, then claimed back-to-back titles in 1998-99 at the Kemper Lakes Golf Club.