Standby leads by one on short first day

Mike Standly fired an opening- round eight-under-par 64 to capture a one-stroke lead over Rob McKelvey at the $400,000 Buy.com (formerly Nike) Lakeland Classic.

Standly opened his round with birdies on two of the opening three holes. "I hit it exactly where I was looking," said Standly. "I really had it going."

McKelvey is alone in second at seven-under 65, while Guy Boros and Brent Scharzrock both carded 66's and share third place. Five players are in a fifth-place logjam.

Thursday's opening round was played by 90 minutes and ended prematurely due to darkness. When play was suspended, 33 players had yet to complete their rounds. All but two of the 18 players on the leaderboard were grouped in the morning session.

Standly, the winner of the 1993 Freeport--McMoran Classic on the PGA tour, drained seven birdies from within 11 feet due to strong iron play. "I had some real good numbers today," added Standly. "You've got to be hitting your short irons well to play good and I've been doing that."

McKelvey also started well, birdieing three of his first four holes. "I'd much rather be in that position than fighting to get them (strokes) back," said McKelvey. If not for a bogey on the 17th, McKelvey could have claimed a share of the lead.

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