Charles Schwab Cup Championship: Rd. 1 notes

text size

SONOMA, Calif. -- The good play continued for Phil Blackmar on Thursday. Four days after capturing his first Champions Tour title at the AT&T Championship in San Antonio, Blackmar opened with a 6-under 66 to share the opening-round lead with Jeff Sluman. Blackmar brought his string of bogey-free holes to 55, and he has made just one bogey in his last 63 holes (No. 8/Round 1 of AT&T Championship -- started on No. 10).

RELATED LINKS

Leaderboard: Round 1
Scorecard: Blackmar
Scorecard: Sluman
Second-round tee times
Insider: Cup contenders
Charles Schwab Cup standings
Recap: Sluman, Blackmar lead

• Blackmar was the only player in the 29-player field to post a bogey-free round.

• The last time Blackmar led or shared the first-round lead came at the 2008 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship after a 5-under 65. The last for Sluman came almost two months ago at the Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, where he led following a 65.

• This marks the third consecutive year two players have shared the first-round lead. In 2007, it was Jim Thorpe and Eduardo Romero (8-under 64), and last year it was David Eger and Nick Price (6-under 66).

• Almost two months after defending his crown at the Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, Jeff Sluman's success in northern California continued on Thursday. Sluman fired a 6-under 66 and shares the lead with Blackmar.

• Friday's final pairing should be an interesting one from a visual perspective. The twosome will include 6-7 Phil Blackmar and 5-7 Jeff Sluman.

• When he teed it up on Thursday, Gil Morgan became the oldest player to compete in this event at 63 years, 1 month, 4 days. The oldest previous player was Don January, who was 63 years, 21 days in 1992. It was Morgan's 12th start in this event, the most by any player in the field. The only time Morgan failed to qualify for the season-ending event was in 2008 when he finished 32nd on the money list.

• Defending champion Andy Bean shot an even-par 72 and is currently tied for 19th.

• Current Charles Schwab Cup leader Loren Roberts (2,458 points) opened with a 2-under 70 and is tied for 10th, while Fred Funk, currently second in the race (2,293), shot a 1-under 71 and is tied for 16th. Rounding out the players currently in the top five in the points race are Bernhard Langer (72/T20), Jay Haas (71/T16) and John Cook (68/T4). All 29 players in the field will receive double points, including 884 to the winner.

• Roberts' 2-under 70 gave him 17 consecutive par-or-better rounds at the Sonoma Golf Club.

• Eduardo Romero had one of the day's best turnarounds. Currently third following a 5-under 67, Romero was 2 over after five holes but finished with seven birdies over his final 13 holes. Romero's eight birdies were the most by any player in the opening round.

• Tom Kite made his 10th consecutive start at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the longest current streak on the Champions Tour.

• The field averaged 70.414, an increase from last year's average of 69.897, in the opening round. Of the 29 players in the field, 19 finished with rounds below par compared to 23 in 2008.

• Just as it was in 2008 after Round 1, No. 4 was the most difficult with a scoring average of 3.310. It averaged 3.138 in 2008. The easiest was again No. 13 with an average of 4.276 compared to 4.448 in 2008. The most difficult hole to make a birdie was No. 5, and just one player made a birdie -- Mark Wiebe. There were also just two on No. 12 -- Ohio State products Cook and Joey Sindelar.

This and That: Romero hit 12 of 14 fairways (86.7 percent) to lead that category. ... Sluman and Andy Bean had the fewest putts in their round with 28. ... Eight players, including co-leader Blackmar hit 16 of 18 Greens in Regulation. ... Dan Forsman is the Driving Distance leader at 307.5 and had the day's longest drive (329 yards/No. 16).