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Friday, October 6

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- A change in golf balls is paying immediate dividends for Bradley Hughes.

One week after making the ball switch, Hughes produced a career-low round of 8-under 63 Friday to take a three-shot lead after 36 holes of the Michelob Championship.

	David Sutherland will be in the final pairing Saturday after his 66 moved him into second place.

A former Australian Rules Football player, Hughes moved to 11-under 131 as he seeks his first career PGA Tour win. He was using Titleist balls but has switched to Nike.

"I have been putting quite well this week," Hughes said. "For some reason I have really seen the lines well, so I haven't had to attack all the holes."

David Sutherland, also vying for his first PGA Tour victory, carded a 66 and is three strokes off the lead at 8-under 134.

Two-time champion David Duval, who won last week's Buick Challenge, fired a 65 and joins first-round co-leaders Steve Pate, J.P. Hayes, along with Loren Roberts, Tommy Armour III, Michael Bradley and Tom Scherrer at 7-under 135.

Hughes got off to a strong start with birdies on five of his first eight holes, including consecutive 20-footers on the par-5 seventh and par-4 eighth. He closed the front nine with his only bogey after finding the bunker with his approach shot.

After gaining back the stroke with an 18-foot birdie on the par-4 10th, Hughes added three more birdies, including two from long range. He drained a 20-footer on the 15th and went 8-under for the day with a 30-footer on the 17th.

"I haven't driven it long, but I have kept it out of the rough, hit a lot of fairly decent amount of fairways and have hit a lot of greens," said Hughes, whose previous low round was a 64 at the 1997 Texas Open. "I haven't had to struggle for a lot of pars or anything, which has made it a little bit easier."

Hughes posted consecutive top-10 finishes earlier in the year at the Buick Invitational and Nissan Open. But he has gone through a miserable stretch since, missing the cut in 17 of 24 events prior to this week. He is 126th on the money list and in danger of losing his playing card for 2001.

"I have been playing a wound ball for a long time and I told everyone, my coach and my family, that I was playing well and I was shooting 76s. They thought I was lying to them," Hughes said. "I just couldn't get the ball to go the distance that I wanted it to go. My confidence got down because I didn't know whether to take an extra club and then I'd ease it and mess it up.

"So I switched to a two-piece ball last week and the results were pretty much immediate. I went from a Titleist to a Nike. If it's good enough for Tiger (Woods), it's good enough for me." Hughes, 33, was the Australian PGA Tour rookie of the year in 1988. His best career finishes on the PGA Tour were ties for second at the 1998 CVS Charity Classic and 1999 Kemper Open.

Sutherland used a sand wedge to set up birdie putts on two of the first three holes. After taking his lone bogey on the par-4 fourth, Sutherland missed a chip for eagle by a foot on No. 7 and settled for a tap-in birdie.

He added birdies from six and 10 feet, respectively, on the par-4 eighth and 10th and went 5-under on the day by sinking a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 17.

"I had a lot of birdie putts out there," Sutherland said. "If I would have driven the ball a little better, I probably could have shot a really low score. Obviously I'm happy with the fact that I'm playing pretty well this week."

Sutherland is struggling to retain his PGA Tour card for 2001, ranking 115th on the money list with $354,695 as he looks to finish the year in the top 125. His best outing in 28 events was a tie for seventh at the Houston Open in April, his only top-10 finish.

"I bet I have had a dozen tournaments where I finished 50th or higher, which is nothing wrong with making cuts," said Sutherland. "But there is something to be said for getting yourself in the mix every now and then."

First-round co-leaders Robert Damron, Cameron Beckman and Sean Murphy fell back on Friday. Damron shot a 70 to move to 6-under 136. Beckman posted a 71 to fall six strokes back, and Murphy carded a 72 for a 36-hole total of 4-under 138.

Defending champion Notah Begay III missed his seventh cut of the year but first since May, shooting a 71 to finish at 5-over 147.