Jeff Sluman’s scorecard last week did not portend what he was able to accomplish at Omni Tucson National Resort on Friday.

Sluman finished the Chubb Classic tied for 68th at 11 over par. He shot 73 or higher in all three rounds.

But Sluman found something at the end of the tournament. He closed with three consecutive birdies.

Who says momentum isn’t real in sports? Buoyed by that finish, Sluman shot a 6-under-66 in the first round of the Cologuard Classic to take a share of the lead entering Round 2 Saturday. Sluman is tied with Miguel Angel Jimenez. Three players are one shot back, including past champions Woody Austin and Tom Lehman.

“I just really never got anything situated last week,” Sluman said. “I felt like the ball was controlling me, not me controlling the ball.

“But I did finish on Sunday birdie-birdie-birdie, which got me in a better frame of mind. I felt like I straightened my swing out a little bit there, then came right here and got some good practice in Tuesday.

“Golf at this age, except for Bernhard, is a little bit of a mystery at times.”

Bernhard is Bernhard Langer, the ageless wonder who’s two victories away from tying Hale Irwin’s record of 45 wins on the PGA Tour Champions. Langer last year won his record sixth Charles Schwab Cup points title a few months after turning 64. Langer, who won the Cologuard Classic in 2020, shot a 2-under 70 Friday and is tied for 15th.

Sluman, also 64, hasn’t won on the PGA Tour Champions since 2014. He ended a similar drought at this very course.

Sluman won the 1997 Tucson Chrysler Classic. It was his first win since his breakthrough triumph at the 1988 PGA Championship.

Sluman didn’t start the ’97 tournament well. He shot 75 in the first round.

“I was in a bad rut at the time,” Sluman said. “My wife just said, basically, ‘If you’re going to be a baby like that, just come home.’ I was like, ‘I’m not going to do that. That’s not my style.’”

Sluman resolved to play better. In particular, he vowed to get every putt to the hole. He finished at 13 under and won by one stroke.

“It was a good lesson for me to learn that week, that you’re never out of it,” Sluman said. “Get a plan ... stick to it and see what happens from there. So that’s what I’m going to try and do on the weekend.”

Jimenez is arguably the hottest player on the PGA Tour Champions. Jimenez led the tour in earnings entering this week after winning the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. He finished third in the Schwab Cup standings last year.

Jimenez was 2 under par when he stepped onto the tee at the par-3 seventh hole. Jimenez striped a 6-iron that landed just short and right of the flag, bounced three times and rolled in for a hole-in-one. He did a little dance after extracting the ball from the cup.

“It was a little downwind off the right,” Jimenez said. “The ball never left the flag.”

Jimenez came within inches of walking off the 18th green with the outright lead. His long, right-to-left, uphill birdie putt into the setting sun just curled under the hole.

“I hit a very good putt,” the Spaniard, 58, said, “I cannot see the hole ... with the sun coming into my eye.

“Anytime you make a par (on No. 18), it’s very good because it’s a tough hole.”

Austin, who won this event in 2016, overcame two bogeys on the back nine to finish at 5-under 67. Lehman, who won it the following year, had a bogey-free round going until No. 18. He pulled his tee shot near the left water hazard, forcing a pitchout back into the fairway. Lehman two-putted for bogey.

“I was aiming right at the hump in the middle,” said Lehman, whose daughter, Rachael, carried his bag. “I figured if I hit my tee shot right on the top of that hump and it kicked left or right, it would be fine into the wind.

“I pulled it. I wasn’t expecting anything good. I got lucky it didn’t go in the water.”

It was a Friday to forget for former University of Arizona standout and reigning PGA Tour Champions Rookie of the Year Jim Furyk. Furyk’s game was off from the get-go; he shot a 2-over 74 and is tied for 59th.

On the first hole, Furyk’s approach shot landed just short of the green and embedded in the grass. He was able to take a drop without penalty but parred the hole – the first of eight consecutive pars.

On No. 9, Furyk yanked his tee shot well left of the fairway. It came to rest near a collection of Porta Potties abutting the driving range, where country artist Jake Owen will perform Saturday evening. Furyk had to lay up on the par-4 hole, and he couldn’t get up and down. It was the first of three bogeys over the final 10 holes. His lone birdie came at No. 17.

Chip shots

Jimenez’s hole-in-one was the ninth ace in tournament history. There has been at least one hole-in-one in six of the eight Cologuard Classics contested.

Defending champion Kevin Sutherland shot an even-par 72 and is tied for 40th.

Stephen Ames recorded the most birdies of the day (nine) and is among six players tied for sixth place at 4 under par.

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Contact sports reporter Michael Lev at 573-4148 or mlev@tucson.com. On Twitter @michaeljlev