Greater Greensboro Open : Sluman (No. 148) Shoots 66 for a Stroke Lead

Jeff Sluman battled gusty winds for a no-bogey, six-under-par 66 to take the lead Thursday in the first round of the $400,000 Greater Greensboro Open at the Forest Oaks Country Club.

Sluman, 27, from Rochester, N.Y., who is ranked 148th on the Professional Golf Assn. earnings list this year, was one stroke ahead of Sandy Lyle of Scotland.

Sluman credited a change in his address to the ball--”I had the ball too far away, my stance was too open”--with helping him gain the first lead of his pro career.

Lyle, who needs only to make the cut to secure full playing rights on the American tour, finished his round before the winds kicked up.

“The par-fives--that’s the thing that kept the round going,” Lyle said. He reached three of them in two shots but managed only two birdies.

Joey Sindelar, Bobby Clampett and Dan Pohl were tied for third at 68, and Lanny Wadkins and Roger Maltbie followed at 69.

Of those leaders, only Clampett played in the afternoon, when the winds were at their worst.

“It was difficult,” Clampett said. “The winds would be blowing 35 to 40 m.p.h., then die down. And they were swirling.”

Ben Crenshaw warmed up for the defense of his Masters title next week at Augusta, Ga., with a 75.

Sluman played on the PGA Tour in 1983 but lost his player’s card after failing to meet the minimum standards. He played in Asia last year and rejoined the U.S. circuit at the start of this season. He has won less than $5,000, and his best PGA Tour finish is a tie for 25th.

Sluman scored three birdies on his front nine with a 20-foot putt on the first hole, an eight-foot putt on the sixth and a chip-in on the eighth.

On his back nine, he saved par on the 10th, two-putted for a birdie on the par-five 13th and sank two six-foot putts for birdies on both par-three holes.