Matteson leads by one at Disney World

Nov 7, 2008 - 12:47 AM KISSIMMEE, Florida (Ticker) - Troy Matteson used a pair of eagles to vault to the top of the leaderboard at the $4.6 million Children's Miracle Network Classic.

Matteson carded a 9-under-par 63 to grab a one-shot lead over Kevin Streelman, Scott Verplank and James Walker on Thursday at the PGA Tour's final event of the year.

Par took a beating in Thursday's first round at the Walt Disney World complex. The tournament is being played on the Magnolia and Palm courses.

Of the 128 players in the field, 94 were in red numbers. The contingent is headed by Matteson, who had six birdies to go with eagles at the par-5 first and 14th holes en route to his best career round.

"It's been a long time since I made two eagles in the same round," Matteson said. "I think it was two years ago when I played on the Palm."

Matteson, who played the Palm layout, is seeking his first victory of the year and second career. His only other PGA Tour win came in 2006 at the Frys.com Open.

This is the second time that Matteson has been a first-round leader this season. He also accomplished the feat with a 65 at the Buick Invitational in January before ending up in a tie for 11th.

Apparently, Matteson has a new putter to thank for his outstanding performance.

"I just started making a few putts," he said. "I hadn't really putted well all year. I switched to a new Scotty Cameron this week, and that's made a big difference for me."

Streelman reeled off six consecutive birdies from Nos. 8-13 to overcome his lone bogey at the fifth on the Magnolia course as he joined Verplank and Walker at 8-under 64.

It was a great start to what could be a distracting week for Streelman, who turned 30 on Tuesday and will have a ton of family members in town due in part to the location.

"Coming into this week, we just really wanted to have a good time," Streelman said. "It's a great place to hang out and have some fun and to bring our families.

"Courtney, my wife, and her parents are coming tonight, and my brother is caddying for me, and his family is coming tonight as well. So we just kind of looked at it as a week we could enjoy and have some fun together. Fortunately, we got off to a good start."

Putting the wraps on his first full season on the tour, Streelman is in the mix because of his best stretch of the year.

"I was kind of a little bit slow getting going, a birdie and a bogey, but then really got hot at 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 with six in a row there, which is probably the most of my year, I think," he said. "It was fun. And then to finish it off with a couple more at 15 and 18 was solid, especially on Magnolia."

Streelman is only a couple of weeks removed from his best finish of the year - a tie for fourth at the Barclays at the end of August.

Verplank bunched all eight of his birdies in an 11-hole stretch in his bogey-free round. Walker also had eight birdies without a bogey.

Former PGA champion Rich Beem also had a bogey-free round and heads a cluster of five players at 7-under 65.

Beem has had some success here in the past, finishing in a tie for third in 2005. He will need to have another good effort if he is going to get his tour card for next season.

Despite what is at stake, Beem stayed away from the golf course prior to Thursday due to burnout. The 38-year-old thinks that might have been a good idea.

"I'm burnt out. I'm tired of this year," he said. "I'm ready for it to be over with, and I go out and I shoot 65.

"I played good today. I had a lot of fun out there, and I think that not playing the last few days really kind of helped out, just get your mind off of golf."

Robert Gamez, who had an eagle at the 10th hole, fell back into that grouping after a bogey at No. 18.

Defending champion Stephen Ames, looking for his first win of the season, is tied for 28th after an opening 68. The Canadian had four birdies without a bogey and is in a logjam with 21 other players.

Ames has had a strong season so far with seven top-10 finishes and, with $2,263,397 in earnings this season, has topped the $2 million mark for the third straight year.

First prize is $828,000.