Trahan Leads After a 63, but Magic Number Is 125

D.J. Trahan isn’t dreaming of chasing Tiger Woods or any of the PGA Tour’s top players as he competes in the Southern Farm Bureau Classic. He has a more important target: Omar Uresti at No. 125 on the money list.

Trahan, fighting to retain his full Tour card with a top-125 finish on the money list, shot a seven-under-par 65 on Thursday to take a two-stroke lead on the Annandale Golf Club course at Madison, Miss. The 25-year-old former Clemson star began the week 142nd with $474,242.

“I’m certainly hoping for some good things coming down to the last four weeks here,” said Trahan, who had eight birdies and a bogey.

Glen Day, Gabriel Hjertstedt and Nick Watney opened with 67s, and Brad Faxon, Jason Gore, Ted Purdy, Skip Kendall and Mathias Gronberg had 68s. Fifty-year-old Fred Funk, the 1998 and 2004 winner, topped a group at 69, and major champions David Duval, Lee Janzen and Mark Brooks were five strokes back after 70s.

Trahan and others are chasing Uresti, who shot a 76 and has won $568,804 this season. Trahan is one of 18 players within $100,000 of Uresti with four tournaments to go before the Tour Championship.

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Nick Jones of Los Angeles, Chris Botsford of Pasadena and Roy Moon of Simi Valley share the lead at five under after the opening round of the California State Open at Temecula.

Jones shot a 66 at the par-71 CrossCreek Golf Club. Botsford and Moon fired their five-under rounds of 67 while playing in the same pairing at the par-72 Redhawk Golf Club.

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Masters champion Phil Mickelson is done playing for the year and Mike Weir will replace him in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.

The Grand Slam, to be played Nov. 21-22 in Hawaii, is for the four major champions of the year. Jim Furyk was the first alternate because Woods won two majors. Ernie Els finished second on the alternate list and declined, so the spot went to Weir.

Filling out the field is U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy.