Forsman Jumps to Early Lead in Greater Hickory Classic


Dan Forsman carded a 7-under 65 to take the top spot on the leaderboard after 18 holes of the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn. The $1.6 million, 54-hole Champions Tour event started Friday at Rock Barn Golf & Spa in Conover, N.C.

Forsman, a 54-year-old who now lives in Utah with three wins on the Champions Tour, carded four birdies and a bogey on the front nine before adding four more birdies on the back for a one-shot lead over Fred Funk, David Frost and Larry Mize.

Sharing fifth after 67s are defending champion Mark Wiebe and Jay Don Blake. Another stroke back are Scott Simpson, Bruce Vaughn, Peter Senior, Tom Lehman, John Cook, Mike Reid and Tom Kite.

Chip Beck, Duffy Waldorf, Tom Jenkins, Gene Sauers, Bobby Clampett, Michael Allen, Jeff Sluman and Jeff Freeman posted 69s, while another stroke back are 14 players, including Bernhard Langer.

Langer won last week's SAS Championship in Cary, N.C., to take the lead in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup standings from Lehman. Langer, a 16-time winner on the over-50 circuit, has 2,208 points. Lehman, who didn't play last week, trails Langer by 69 points.

There are two official events left in the Champions Tour schedule. The AT&T Championship will be held in two weeks in San Antonio, and a week later the season will be culminated with the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Scottsdale.

For complete scoring, visit http://www.pgatour.com/s/leaderboard.