Oct. 18, 2004

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Former Lamar golfer Chris Stroud made the most of his first appearance in a PGA Tour event, finishing tied for 57th at the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro at Forest Oaks Country Club.

Stroud, who was a four time Southland Conference player of the year, posted a 3-under par 69 on the 7,291-yard course in his first round at a PGA Tour event. The round included six birdies and three bogeys.

The Groves native followed with a 1-under 71 in the second round to make the cut at 4-under 140. After making the turn at 1-over par, Stroud birdied two of the last four holes to ensure that he made the cut.

Some of the PGA stalwarts who did not make the cut included Davis Love III, who designed the course, John Daly and Jay Haas.

A two-time Ping All-American, Stroud posted consecutive rounds of 1-over 73 on the weekend. He bogeyed two holes on the front-9 and birdied the par-4 18th hole on the inward nine in Saturday's third round.

In Sunday's final round, Stroud birdied the par-3 8th hole and the par-5 9th hole to make the turn at 2-under 34. However, he bogeyed 13, 14 and 15 coming in and finished in a four-way tie for 57th place with Lucas Glover, Geoff Ogilvy and Hunter Mahan to earn $10,350.

Up next for Stroud is the first stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School Oct. 26-29 at Black Horse Golf Club in Houston. The second stage of qualifying will be Nov. 10-13 at Stonebridge GC in McKinney. The final stage is scheduled for Dec. 1-6 at PGA West Stadium Course & Nicklaus Tournament Course in LaQuinta, Calif. The low 30 and ties at the final stage qualify for the 2005 PGA Tour and the rest of the golfers automatically qualify for the Nationwide Tour.