IRVING, Texas - Jeff Sluman was so desperate for help with his putting he took a lesson by phone. Now he's on top of the leaderboard.
Sluman shot bogey-free 7-under 63 Thursday, including birdies on his last three holes, and held the first-round lead at the $5.6-million Byron Nelson Championship.
Billy Andrade, whose only bogey came on his final hole, was at 64 with Jim Furyk and Kevin Sutherland. Vijay Singh and 1996 Nelson champ Phil Mickelson were among 11 players at 65.
Sluman, 45, wasn't having a bad season. He made 11 of 13 cuts, finishing 10th and 11th in the past two tournaments.
"I have played well all year for the most part, but I haven't made the putts that you need to make to keep rounds going or to get that one really low round in there," Sluman said.
So right before New Orleans two weeks ago, Sluman called part-time player and teacher Stan Utley.
"He hasn't seen my stroke on site yet," Sluman said. "What he told me, it kicked in a little at New Orleans, and the stroke certainly feels more solid. I have to think what he told me is working."
Andrade was tied for the lead until he pushed a 5-foot par putt past the hole on 18 for his only bogey. It came after his approach spun off the green and he pitched close for a chance to save par.
DEUTSCHE BANK-SAP OPEN: Tiger Woods shot bogey-free 3-under 69 and was four strokes off the lead after the first round in Alveslohe, Germany.
Woods, trying for his third consecutive title here, was in a 12-way tie for 15th behind leaders Padraig Harrington and Retief Goosen, who opened with 7-under 65s.
Battling 16-mph winds and occasional drizzle, Woods had three birdies in his first competitive round since taking a four-week break after the Masters.
U.S. OPEN QUALIFYING: Brian Lefferts of Tampa and Michael Murphy of Tarpon Springs were co-medalists in the qualifier at Bardmoor Golf and Tennis Club in Largo. Lefferts and Murphy, who both shot 2-under 70 and won a playoff, advanced to sectional qualifying. Dalan Farren of New Port Richey also shot 70 and is the first alternate.
TEEN EXEMPTION: Teenager Michelle Wie has accepted a sponsor's exemption to play in the Boise Open on the Nationwide Tour, becoming the first female player on the PGA Tour's developmental circuit.
Wie, an eighth-grader in Honolulu who hits longer than some PGA players, already will have experience by the time she gets to the Boise Open, Sept.18-21.
She also has been invited to play in the Canadian Tour's Bay Mills Open Players' Championship on Aug.21-24 in Brimley, Mich.
TRADING CARDS: The Upper Deck Co. released a set of women's trading cards to coincide with Annika Sorenstam's appearance in the Colonial - the first time in 58 years a woman will compete on the PGA Tour.
The set was in the works before Sorenstam took a sponsor's exemption for the May 22-25 men's tournament. The cards went on sale May 1.
Sorenstam is in the first subset of 13 cards, the first time female golfers have appeared in a licensed, mainstream golf card set. A pack of five cards sells for $2.99.
