| Coal
Valley, Ill. 9th July 1998 -
Curt Byrum sank a 20-foot putt on his final hole today for
a 7-under-par 63 and a one-stroke lead over four players in the first round of
the Quad City Classic. Byrum,
a Nike Tour regular who got into this PGA Tour event with a sponsor's exemption,
rode a hot putter to overcome two early bogeys. Playing
the back nine first, he had bogeys after driving into the trees on No. 14 and
into the rough on 18. But he birdied his last four holes. "I
really didn't let the bogeys bother me, and I'm sure that helped me get things
going down the road," he said. Dave
Stockton Jr., Hal Sutton, Steve Jones and D.A. Weibring each shot 64s over the
6,696-yard Oakwood Country Club course. Casey Martin, who won a lawsuit for the
right to ride a cart in PGA tournaments, shot a 66, and John Daly shot a 3-under-par
67. Byrum called
the first-round lead a relief after struggling to overcome elbow surgery in 1996
and torn rib muscles in 1997. "You
get to wondering. Obviously, these last couple years, with the injuries and all,"
he said, his voice trailing off with a shrug. "It's a surprise." Byrum's
best finish this year was ninth in the Nike Greater Austin Open. Of 14 Nike tournaments,
he's made the cut in seven. A
lack of wind helped scoring at Oakwood, although many players said the short game
was tricky because of slopes and bowls on the greens. "Even
though the greens are fair in size, if you hit it on the wrong side of the slope
it kind of makes you sorry you did," said Sutton, winner of the 1983 PGA
Championship and the 1986 Phoenix Open. "You've got to pick the shots when
you (decide to) shoot at the flag pole." Byrum,
who has played in the Quad City every year since 1992, said familiarity with the
greens definitely gave him an edge. "I'm
pretty comfortable reading the greens," he said. "I putted well, and
that's got to give you some confidence." | 
