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By Lauren Deason
PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator

HAVEN, Wis. -- Coming off of his first Champions Tour win at the Commerce Bank Championship last week, it would be understandable if Lonnie Nielsen had a post-win hangover at the Senior Open.

Lonnie Nielsen (WireImage)

But nope, the 54-year-old who spent most of his pre-50 years winning Western New York PGA tournaments after a stint on the PGA TOUR from 1978-83, is on a roll again this week, shooting 68 and 71 in the first two rounds at Whistling Straits to put him just three back of the tournament leader and strongly in contention heading into the weekend.

"I'm coming off a great week last week and a little bit of a carryover to that. I think I'm still using the same swing keys this week and the ball's going pretty much where I'm looking most of the time," said a smiling Nielsen. "Just a little bit of confidence, you know. It doesn't last very long in this game so I'm hoping to ride it as long as I can."

Despite several welcome disruptions that accompanied his victory, including a cell phone voicemail box that keeps filling up with messages from friends he hasn't heard from in 30 or 40 years, he calls the experience "wonderful."

"It meant the world to me. I've been at this a long time. So to be 1-for-whatever I am ... you dream about it doing it your whole life and to finally do it at age 54 is an incredible feeling."

Next week he will again return to New York -- site of his first Champions Tour win and the state he called home for over two decades before recently moving to Florida -- for the Dick's Sporting Goods Open near Binghamton. Because Nielsen used to live and work in Buffalo, which is about three and a half hours from the tournament, he expects to have a large following.

"We have got quite a few people from our club, there's some people from Rochester, which is the Western New York PGA Section there, quite a few guys coming down from there and my whole family, all the children are going to come as well. So it will be a great week."

LOOK HOW FAR HE'S COME: Everything came full circle for Jeff Coston recently when he qualified for the U.S. Senior Open at Inglewood Golf Club, a course that he grew up on in Seattle, Wash.

Jeff Coston (WireImage)

"I hadn't played there in years upon years. I used to do dishes there for $1.75 an hour back in junior high and high school," he explained. "And now how times have changed."

Coston was the low club professional at the Senior PGA Championship at Kiawah Island and shot back-to-back 70s in the first round of the U.S. Senior Open at Whistling Straits to sit four shots behind tournament leader Tom Watson.

"(The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island and Whistling Straits) are both really championship golf courses and that's why they have so many events at the two places," said Coston. "The PGA and the USGA, they know how to pick great golf courses."

He participated in the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits and was one of three club professionals to make the cut there. Coston also qualified for the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where he made the cut.

"They are such great golf courses that if you hit nice golf courses, good things happen," said Coston. "I'm looking forward to the next couple of days and having some fun."

DOUBLE THE FUN FOR VAUGHAN: Bruce Vaughan was so lucky last week it even rubbed off on his playing partner.

The 50-year-old Vaughan, who qualified for last week's Commerce Bank Championship in Long Island, N.Y., made not one but two holes-in-one on June 26.

"I had to qualify for last week's tournament and made one in the qualifier. A buddy of mine [Mitch Adams], he qualified too, so we went over and played a practice round on the tournament course and I made another one on the same day on the fifth hole," said Vaughan, who made his first ace on the 14th hole of the White Course at Eisenhower Park to shoot an 8-under 64 and easily qualify.

Then, in the first round of the tournament, his playing partner Sam Torrance also went out and scored an ace. On what hole, you wonder?

None other than No. 5, the par 3 at the Red Course at Eisenhower Park where Vaughan had scored his second ace just three days prior.

When Vaughan called his wife Beverly to tell her about his two aces that Tuesday, she informed him that the USGA had also called that day to let him know that he was in this week's U.S. Senior Open.

"I qualified for two tournaments and got two holes in one in the same day," he said." So it was a pretty good day."

His streak has continued, with Vaughan shooting 68 in the first round of the U.S. Senior Open at Whistling Straits. Though he followed it up with a 73 thanks to hitting "too many shots in the rough and leaving putts short," the one-time firefighter who picked up the game at age 20 is hanging in there with Tom Watson, Loren Roberts and Ben Crenshaw.

And that's pretty darn lucky.