LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- First he won the Greater Milwaukee Open in July. Then he picked up three top-10 finishes in the seven events he's played since without missing a cut. Now, Jeff Sluman is starting the week at the Disney Golf Classic by shooting a first-round 63.
The 63 is Sluman's best effort since Milwaukee, where he shot the same in the third round. In his last six rounds, Sluman has gone 37-under and averaged 65.66 a go.
Sluman missed the cut last year at Disney, but it was only his second time to do so in an otherwise admirable series of performances in Orlando. With two seventh-place finishes and another pair of top-25 finishes since 1985, Sluman has accumlated $212,786.87 in the land of Mickey Mouse.
The only downfall for Sluman statistically: Out of the last nine times he's held a first-round lead, he's failed to convert a trophy.
GETTING A LIFT: The Palm course, traditionally the easier of the two tracks at Disney, became a little more scoreable Thursday when lift, clean and place rules were in effect. Players could move the ball within one clublength in any area mowed to fairway height or less.
Seven of the 11 players in the top 10 and ties played the Palm course, which averaged 68.736 strokes as compared to the Magnolia course's 69.986.
But no matter how you slice it, neither of the courses at Disney are considered difficult layouts. Of the 143 players in the field, 125 were at par or better.
"The Magnolia is in better shape," said Stuart Appleby. "It looks like it's a little higher, the water table has climbed up, we had a wet summer. The course today was really really wet. But Magnolia generally is a little bit more open."
And players may find mud in the fairways, but the greens are in better shape.
"It's drying up and the greens are perfect," co-leader Bob Burns said. "The greens are firm and fast already. They are in perfect shape."
ROOKIE MAGIC: Unless something dramatic happens Friday, Peter Lonard will make his 22nd cut of the year. The Australian rookie hasn't missed the weekend one time since joining the PGA Tour and despite taking three weeks off, came back in fine form with a first-round 64.
His most recent event, the American Express Championship in Ireland, was in fact his worst with a final-round 74 dropping him to a tie for 54th. Nonetheless, it brought Lonard $30,000 to add to his season total of $1,393,676.88 coming into this week.
Driving straight off the tee isn't one of Lonard's strengths -- he ranks 108th in driving accuracy on Tour -- but his ball found 14 of 14 fairways Thursday. He also averaged 277 yards in length off the tee and took 29 putts.
