Jeff Brehaut leads with opening 65

When last seen at Innisbrook, Jeff Brehaut was an emotional wreck until making a slippery 4-foot birdie putt on the last hole that made his road back to the PGA Tour much easier.

One year later, Brehaut was still making big putts Thursday in the Chrysler Championship -- five birdies, one eagle and a momentum-saving par -- that carried him to a 6-under 65 and a two-shot lead as he kept alive his hopes of getting into the Masters or even the Tour Championship.

Charles Howell III did little to hurt his chances of getting to East Lake next week for the season-ending Tour Championship. Coming into the tournament at No. 30 on the money list, he took advantage of the par 5s and kept bogeys off his card for a 4-under 67.

Retief Goosen had a tap-in eagle to start his round and had a two-putt birdie on the par-5 11th set up by a 2-iron from a tight lie that soared high into the air from 257 yards, a shot not many players at Innisbrook can hit. He also wound up with a 67, joined by Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman, Ben Crane and Dean Wilson.

Lucas Glover, coming off his first victory last week at Disney, and Davis Love III were among those at 68.

Brehaut might not be here this week without that clutch putt a year ago.

He was 152nd on the money list when he showed up at Innisbrook, his 11th consecutive tournament in a desperate bid to keep his card. All he could hope for late Sunday afternoon was to finish in the top 150 so he could at least go straight to the final stage of Q-school. It came down to a 4-foot putt that was downhill and broke sharply to the right.

``Probably the fastest putt on the course,'' he recalled.

Making the putt allowed him to skip the second stage of qualifying school, and Brehaut used that time to win the Callaway Invitational at Pebble Beach. That sent him to Q-school with newfound confidence, and he got his card back.

The 42-year-old Brehaut, perennially on the bubble, for the first time has no worries. He is 61st on the money list thanks to a strong summer, and now can entertain thoughts of some big rewards at the end of the year.

``This is an important week to move back up,'' he said.

He remains determined, proof of that coming Wednesday during his final day of practice. He thought he had his swing sorted out, but when he stopped for lunch, he started hitting it awful. While doing laundry that evening, he rushed back out to the range at twilight to find his swing, and then put in an extra hour Thursday morning.

``It's tough to play good golf when you're searching,'' he said.

But it helps to make putts, and Brehaut made four of them beyond 20 feet.

Howell figures there are worse places to be than 30th on the money list. He was 33rd last year -- only the top 30 get into the Tour Championship -- played indifferently on the weekend and missed out. The big difference this year is he his playing some of his best golf of the year.

He finished fifth in Las Vegas to move from 42nd to 30th, then tied for 15th at Disney to remain at No. 30. In his last two tournaments, Howell is 35 under par.

There's little chance of low scoring at Innisbrook, a clever course that some players rate the best in Florida on the PGA Tour because of its subtle changes in elevation, tree-lined fairways and firm greens.

``This golf course is hard, and it's made a little harder because we're coming from two tournaments where you can make a lot of birdies,'' Howell said.

Howell helped himself by not making bogeys, holing a 6-footer to save par on the 17th.

It was plenty tough for Vijay Singh, at No. 2 the highest-ranked player in the Chrysler Championship. He missed the cut last week at Disney, and appeared to be hanging around until the final three holes. He hit into the water on the 16th and took double bogey, three-putted for bogey on the 17th and missed the 18th green for another bogey.

That put him at 74 and in a tie for 103rd place. The last time Singh missed the cut in back-to-back tournaments was in 2001 at the Canadian Open and Pennsylvania Open.

Lehman still hasn't given up the idea he can play himself onto the Ryder Cup team next year, although he said he would have to win and consider himself one of the best 12 Americans before he gave up the captaincy.

For now, his goal is to get back to the Tour Championship for the first time in four years.

``It would be nice to get back in that group,'' he said.

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