Scott Gutschewski shot a 5-under 67 at the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course to take a one-shot lead over Jeff Gallagher (68/JN) and Ryan Howison (68/JN). The Omaha, NE native most recently finished No. 167 on the 2006 PGA TOUR money list, making 19 starts and posting top-10 finishes at the B.C. Open presented by Turning Stone Resort (T6) and the Cialis Western Open (T10). He also made seven starts on the Nationwide Tour, finishing No. 106 on the money list. Gutschewski has now made it to the final stage of Q-School three times, finishing T44 in 2003 and T79 in 2005.

•Steve Allan shot a 3-under 69 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course to sit just two shots behind the leader. Allan is making his fifth appearance at Q-School Finals, highlighted by individual medalist honors at PGA West in 2000 when the event was hosted at the Nicklaus Tournament Course and Nicklaus Private Course.

•The rounds of the day at the TPC Stadium Course were turned in by Paul Gow and Kenneth Staton with 2-under-par 70s.

•Twenty-three players posted sub-par scores during the first round of Q-School, with 19 of those scores coming on the Nicklaus Tournament Course.

•The scoring averages for the two courses on Wednesday – TPC Stadium (76.098) and Nicklaus Tournament Course (73.617). Two years ago the round one totals were 72.798 and 71.071, respectively.

•The toughest holes on the two courses – the par-4 18th on the Nicklaus Tournament Course with a scoring average of 4.728 and the par-3 6th on the TPC Stadium with a scoring average of 3.598.

•There were just two bogey-free rounds on Wednesday, with both coming on the Nicklaus Tournament Course – John Mallinger (69) and Chris Thompson (70).

•Michael Allen, who finished No. 153 on the 2006 PGA TOUR money list with $470,946, opened with a 4-over 76 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course. Allen is making his TOUR-leading 12th start at Q-School Finals since 1990. During that span, he has successfully qualified seven times (1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2001, 2003 and 2005).

•Chris Tidland, who holds the distinction as having the longest current streak of final stage appearances with seven, opened up with a 1-under 71 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course. Tidland has had several near misses of obtaining his PGA TOUR card via the Nationwide Tour, finishing inside the top 60 five consecutive seasons without securing his card (finishing 59th in 2002, 32nd in 2003, 21st in 2004, 28th in 2005 and 50th in 2006).

•Fifty-seven players are making their first visit to Q-School Finals. Of those, John Mallinger had the best finish on Wednesday with a 3-under 69 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course.

•Of the 163-man field, 69 players earned their ticket into the six-day event by successfully navigating the first two stages of Q-School.