Sluman cards record 62
Golf finally felt easy to Jeff Sluman, and it wasn’t difficult to see why.
From a fairway bunker on the 18th hole, he had to play a 20-yard hook to avoid the trees and reach the elevated green. His 7-iron stopped 16 inches from the cup and he made his ninth birdie, for a course-record 62 and a two-shot lead in the Chrysler Championship at Palm Harbor, Fla., on Thursday.
“You kind of wonder to yourself why in the world you can’t do that more often, because it seems so easy,” Sluman said. “Other days, making one or two birdies seems like it’s going to be impossible.”
The previous record of 8-under-par 63 was set by K.J. Choi in the first round in 2002, when he went on to a wire-to-wire victory.
Jonathan Kaye made a hole-in-one with a 3-iron from 222 yards on 17, and followed that with a birdie for a 7-under 64. He was tied with former Pullman resident Kirk Triplett and Kent Jones, who is 124th on the money list and took a big step toward keeping his PGA Tour card for next year.
Vijay Singh makes it look easy every day.
The No. 1 player in the world, who needs to finish in the top 15 at Innisbrook to assure himself a $10 million season, made five birdies in a seven-hole stretch on the back nine for a tidy round of 65.
“If you hit decent shots and make some putts, you’re going to play well. And that’s what I’m doing right now,” said Singh, making it sound as simple as ever.
The Chrysler Championship is the final full-field tournament of the year, the last chance for players to get into the Tour Championship (top 30 on the money list), the Masters (top 40) or keep their jobs (top 125).
Sluman falls into that none-of-the-above category. He is 79th on the money list, his worst season in 10 years. Only a victory would give him a mathematical chance at playing next week at East Lake, or at Augusta National next April.
But he knows what the pressure is like. A year ago, Sluman bogeyed the final two holes and would have finished 41st on the money list by $900 if either of two players made birdie on the final hole. They made bogey, and Sluman got his ticket to the Masters.
That burden lifted, he cruised around the Copperhead course at Innisbrook in a good frame of mind, hitting fairways and greens and holing more putts than he has all year.
“It’s probably a little easier to go out and kind of freewheel it a little bit more, and not be overly concerned if you’re on the bubble of any of those areas,” Sluman said.
Kaye and Jones are on big bubbles.
Kaye is 32nd on the money list, about $32,000 behind No. 30. He turned a good round into a great one quickly with his 3-iron into the hole on the par-3.
“Great finish, man,” said Kaye, who hit wedge into about 3 feet on the final hole for birdie. “Doesn’t get any better than that for me.”
Jones has been watching his position fluctuate at the bottom of the money list the last few weeks.
Jones showed up in Tampa with about a $2,000 lead on Olin Browne. His was more nervous than usual, but settled down quickly with birdies on his first two holes.
Spain’s Garcia, Lara share lead
At Sotogrande, Spain, Sergio Garcia shot a 4-under 67 in the wind to share the first-round lead at the Volvo Masters with fellow Spaniard Jose Manuel Lara, who was stung by a bee early in his round.
Garcia, who won in Mallorca two weeks ago, survived a tough day on the Valderrama course where the Ryder Cup was played seven years ago.
Lara was bothered for a while after the bee sting on the fifth hole. But he regrouped and birdied five of the last 10 holes.
“I putted very well,” Lara said. “The greens are fantastic. If you can read them, the ball goes exactly where you hit it.”
At this event, which ends the European tour season, there is no cut. The European Order of Merit title, usually decided at this tourney, has been won by Ernie Els, who is not playing.