IRVING (Texas), May 16: Jeff Sluman birdied the final three holes to cap a seven-under-par 63 for a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Byron Nelson Championship on Thursday.

The 1988 U.S. PGA champion finished ahead of Jim Furyk, Billy Andrade and Kevin Sutherland, each of whom carded 66s.

World number four Phil Mickelson — the 1996 winner — and world number seven Vijay Singh of Fiji are the big names in a group of 11 players who shot 65s.

Sluman, 45, had picked up four shots on his first nine at the Cottonwood Valley Golf Club course, which is the shorter of the two venues being used for this week’s PGA Tour event.

The primary course is the TPC at Las Colinas, where the competitors will play 54 holes.

Of the top four players, only Furyk played Las Colinas on Thursday.

Sluman credited a putting lesson over the telephone from fellow tour player Stan Utley as the reason he was able to fashion a low opening round.

Haas, who has two runner-up finishes this year, has earned over $1.5 million, the first time he has cracked the $1-million mark.

Sluman said Utley teaches a putting stroke that mirrors the golf swing instead of a straight back and straight through stroke.

Sluman averaged 1.60 putts per green in regulation — tied for 23rd in the 156-player field — and needed only 27 putts — tied for 30th.

Furyk’s putting was even better. He used only 26 putts and averaged 1.50 putts per green in regulation.

He also hit 12 of 14 fairways, a figure that tied him for first.

His performance was a far cry from last week in the Wachovia Championship when he missed his first cut of the season in 10 stroke play tournaments.

Furyk, who will defend his title in two weeks at the Memorial Tournament, has played exceptionally well this season without a victory.

The 33-year-old has eight top-10 finishes and over $1.8 million in earnings.

In March he lost the Ford Championship in a playoff to Scott Hoch.

Furyk will play Cottonwood on Friday, but said he does not see a great deal of difference in the difficulties presented by each course.

Because players expected to play better on Cottonwood did not mean they would, Furyk said.

First round scores

63 Jeff Sluman

64 Jim Furyk, Billy Andrade, Kevin Sutherland

65 Phil Mickelson, Jerry Kelly, Duffy Waldorf, Briny Baird, Jim Carter, Tim Petrovic, Spike McRoy, Vijay Singh (Fiji), Tommy Armour III, Jonathan Kaye, Mark Walker

66 Hidemichi Tanaka (Japan), Tom Byrum, Brent Geiberger, John Rollins, Nick Price (Zimbabwe), Cameron Beckman, Marco Dawson, Akio Sadakata (Japan), Richard Johnson (Sweden), Per-Ulrik Johansson (Sweden), Billy Mayfair, Robert Gamez, Brandt Jobe, J.P. Hayes, Bob Estes, Craig Barlow, Dean Wilson, Ben Curtis.—Reuters