KVOA

Posted: Oct 29, 2009 6:57 PM
Updated: Oct 29, 2009 8:37 PM

SONOMA, Calif. (AP) - Phil Blackmar and Jeff Sluman shot 6-under 66s in breezy conditions Thursday to share the first-round lead in the Champions Tour's season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

      After the Corpus Christi native won the AT&T Championship last week in San Antonio to earn the last spot in the season finale, the 6-foot-7 Blackmar had six birdies in a bogey-free round at Sonoma Golf Club. Sluman was seven par at the turn, then birdied three of his first four holes on the back nine, eagled the par-5 16th and birdied 17.

      Eduardo Romero, the Toshiba Classic winner in March at Newport Beach, was a stroke back at 67, and John Cook and Brad Bryant opened with 68s.

      Charles Schwab Cup points leader Loren Roberts had two eagles in a 70. Fred Funk, 165 points behind Roberts in second place in the race for the $1 million annuity, had a 71. Jay Haas, the 2008 points champion, also shot a 71, while Bernhard Langer, the only other player in contention for the points title, had a 72.

      Langer is 348 points behind Roberts, and Haas is 602 back. The players will receive a point for every $500 earned, making a victory worth $442,000 and 884 points.

      Langer leads the tour with four victories and $2,033,451. Roberts, a three-time winner, is second on the money list with $1,854,613.

      Blackmar a three-time winner on the PGA Tour who joined the Champions Tour late in 2007, was seriously contemplating retirement before winning his first senior title last week. The victory vaulted Blackmar from 57th on the money list to 30th, which enabled him to take the final spot in Sonoma.

      Blackmar birdied Nos. 6 and 9 to make the turn at 2 under. After a birdie on the par-4 11th, he reached the 587-yard, par-5 13th in two before settling for a birdie. He then birdied the final two holes to extend his streak to 55 holes without a bogey.

      Sluman countered an opening bogey with a birdie on the par-5 second, then had four birdies and an eagle while needing just nine putts over the final nine holes.

      The six-time PGA Tour winner won the Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach last month for his third career victory on the 50-and-over tour.