Brilliant round has Matteson in front at Disney World

Nov 7, 2008 - 1:18 PM KISSIMMEE, Florida (Ticker) - After a stellar start, Troy Matteson sits atop the leaderboard entering Friday's second round at the $4.6 million Children's Miracle Network Classic.

Matteson carded an opening-round 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 on the Magnolia and Palm courses at the Walt Disney World complex. Of the 128 players in the field, 94 were in red numbers.

Matteson had six birdies to go with eagles at the par-5 first and 14th holes en route to his best career round.

He is seeking his first victory of the year and second career triumph, with his only other PGA Tour win coming 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.

Streelman reeled off six consecutive birdies from Nos. 8-13 to overcome his lone bogey at the fifth on the Magnolia course, joining 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.

Putting the wraps on his first full season on the tour, Streelman is in the mix because of his best stretch of the year. He is only a couple of weeks removed from his best finish this season - 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.

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.