American Tim Conley, who collected a record sixth Belmont Invitation title last week, staked his claim for another crown yesterday as he spearheaded his Florida team, Avila, to a first round lead in the rain-delayed Goodwill Tournament.

Playing at Riddell's Bay, Avila, which includes local players Fritz Reiter, Danny Fagundo and Eddie Marshall, carved out an superb net 55 to take a one-shot lead over Jim Houston's team from Plantation Ponte Verde.

Three other teams are bunched on 57 as the near-80 teams took full advantage of calm conditions yesterday, a day after torrential rain had washed out the scheduled opening round on Monday.

Perhaps most impressive was the performance of professional John Carney who came within a shot of smashing the Belmont course record.

Carney, playing out of the Bricklanding Plantation Club - one of the three teams to card 57 - fired 63 on his own ball to rack up 43 points in the stableford competition which will now decide the professional title in place of the traditional pro event which was originally slated for today but scrapped after Monday's wash-out.

Hardly surprisingly Carney's team posted the best gross score yesterday of 61.

The tournament continues today, tomorrow and Friday.