Final stage q-school: First-round notebook

• The first-round 62s carded by Frank Lickliter II and Brendon de Jonge match the all-time low opening-round score at the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament (since 1991, when the TOUR began keeping records of such statistics). Previous opening-round 62s were recorded by Todd Barranger in 2000 (PGA West - Nicklaus Private) and Rick Fehr in 1998 (The Dunes at La Quinta).

Bob Heintz's first-round 67 is his 11th consecutive round of par or better at q-school. (Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

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• The four-shot lead shared by Lickliter and de Jonge is the largest first-round lead at the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament since 1991, when the TOUR began keeping such statistics.

• Lickliter and de Jonge's 62s equals the lowest round at q-school since Jeff Brehaut recorded a 61 during the third round in 2004. The last 62 posted at q-school was by Steve Marino during the fourth round in 2006.

• Bob Heintz's first-round 67 is his 11th consecutive round of par or better at the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament, dating back to a third-round 71 in 2005. Heintz climbed as high as No. 121 on the 2007 TOUR money list before finishing at No. 132 after missing the cut in five of his last seven events.

• Chris Tidland, who recently finished No. 169 on the PGA TOUR money list, opened with a 1-under 71 (T70) at Crooked Cat. Tidland holds the distinction as having the longest current streak of final stage appearances with eight, dating back to 2000. Jeff Klauk (74/CC/T141) is second on the list with seven straight appearances at the final stage.

• Of the 166-man field, Esteban Toledo has the most appearances at final stage since 1990, with 11 starts. Toledo opened up with a 2-under 70 (T41) on Wednesday at Crooked Cat. Toledo is coming off of a 43rd-place finish on the Nationwide Tour money list.

• Ninety-one players posted sub-par scores during the first round of q-school, with 42 of those scores coming at Crooked Cat and 49 at Panther Lake.

• Fifty-six players are making their first visit to q-school finals. Of those, five finished inside the top 10 after the first round -- Brett Rumford (66/CC/T3), Matt Every (66/PL/T3), David Lutterus (66/PL/T3), D.H. Lee (67/PL/T7) and Tommy Gainey (67/PL/T7).

• The first-round scoring averages for the two courses -- Crooked Cat (71.325) and Panther Lake (70.795).

• The toughest holes on the two courses -- the par-4 second hole on Crooked Cat with a scoring average of 4.325 and the par-4 third hole on Panther Lake with a scoring average of 4.349.

• There were 12 bogey-free rounds on Wednesday, including seven on Panther Lake -- Frank Lickliter II (62), Brendon de Jonge (62), Matt Every (66), D.A. Points (67), Josh McCumber (69), Bob May (69) and Scott Parel (71). Five bogey-free rounds were posted on Crooked Cat -- Jason Allred (66), Bob Heintz (67), John Merrick (68), Kenneth Ferrie (69) and Kyle Reifers (69).

• Of the 166-man field, 69 players earned their ticket into the six-day event by successfully navigating the first two stages of q-school. Of those players, six had to additionally go through the pre-qualifying tournament (Tyler Aldridge, Gibby Gilbert III, Seung-su Han, Garrett Osborn, Brendon Todd and Mike Wendling).

• Amateur Seung-su Han, a native of Incheon, South Korea, opened with a 2-over 74 at Crooked Cat. Han is currently playing his junior season for the UNLV Running Rebel golf team.

• After finishing No. 138 on the PGA TOUR money list this year, Doug LaBelle II (68/CC/T15) has himself already on track for a return visit to the TOUR. A rookie in 2007, LaBelle finished T4 at the Sony Open in Hawaii (his first event of the year) and immediately found himself 14th on the money list. Although he made more cuts than he missed, he was only able to improve on his prior week's money list standing one time all year (from No. 126 to No. 124 after the Deutsche Bank Championship).

• Three past q-school medalists are participating this week at Orange County National, including 2000 winner Steve Allan (71/PL/T70), 1992 co-medalist Skip Kendall (72/CC/T92) and 1990 winner Duffy Waldorf (74/CC/T141).

• By the numbers ... The top 25 players and ties at the conclusion of the tournament will receive 2008 PGA TOUR cards, while the next number of players nearest 50 will receive full status on the Nationwide Tour. All remaining players will have conditional status on the Nationwide Tour in 2008.