First round leaves glut of golfers at top of U.S. Senior Open

Kenny Perry, with a first-round 67, finds himself tied with six other golfers as he attempts to win a second consecutive senior major.
Kenny Perry, with a first-round 67, finds himself tied with six other golfers as he attempts to win a second consecutive senior major.

OMAHA, Neb. - It’s never been so crowded at the top of the U.S. Senior Open leaderboard.

When Tom Lehman chipped in from 45 feet on the 18th hole Thursday, he joined six others at 3-under 67 for the first round at the Omaha Country Club.

photo

AP

Fred Couples shot a first-round 71 and is tied for 33rd, four strokes off the lead — shared by seven players — at the U.S. Senior Open in Omaha, Neb.

There had never been as many as seven co-leaders after the opening round of the event. The previous record was five in 1997.

“In one round, 18 holes, it’s like a sprint,” Lehman said. “Over the course of four rounds, which is more like a marathon, things really do spread out. The field will thin out.”

Kenny Perry shot a 67 in the morning, putting together a solid start in his bid for a second consecutive victory in a senior major. Michael Allen and Jay Don Blake also were 3 under after their morning rounds, and Gary Hallberg, Mark O’Meara, Fred Funk and Lehman came in with the same score in the afternoon.

The hilly 6,700-yard course took a toll on the field of golfers age 50 and older, especially in the afternoon as temperatures reached the upper 80s with a light breeze. The small and undulating greens browned up in the heat and proved dicey.

“When you get tough conditions and you’re playing good, you get rewarded,” Funk said. “More than likely, the guy that’s playing the best in these kind of conditions will be at the top. Hopefully, it will be me.”

Perry, who won the Senior Players Championship two weeks ago at Fox Chapel, Pa., made five birdies and two bogeys.

The season points leader started on the back nine and had birdies on three of his first eight holes. He hit an 8-iron to within 10 feet on the par-3 11th, drove the green on the 312-yard, par-4 13th, and hit hybrid-pitching wedge on the 319-yard, par-4 17th and made his 15-foot putt.

He birdied both par-5s on his second nine, but came away a bit disappointed after missing a 5-foot eagle putt on No. 6.

“I took care of the par 5s today and drove it nicely, kept it in the fairway, kept it in play,” Perry said. “Like I said yesterday, if I hit it in the fairway, I really like my chances on this golf course.”

Lehman, the 2012 Champions Tour points and money leader, overcame a bogey on No. 8 with three birdies on the back nine - none bigger than the one on 18.

His second shot came to rest in thick grass to the right of the green. He used an 8-iron for his chip and watched it roll downhill slowly into the cup for what ranked as the shot of the day.

“The lie was a little bit squirrelly,” Lehman said. “The grass was growing against the ball so it’s easy to kind of not catch it cleanly. I took less loft and kind of hit it a little bit thin. Once it gets out on the green, it’s going to get down there.”

Chien Soon Lu, Peter Senior, Rocco Mediate and 2010 champion Bernhard Langer shot 68s. Colin Montgomerie, who turned 50 last month and is playing in his second senior event, was in a pack that was two shots behind.

Defending champion Roger Chapman struggled with his putter and was seven shots behind after a 74.

Tom Watson, who played with Langer and Montgomerie and drew the largest galleries of the day, struggled with his irons while shooting a 70 that included one birdie and one bogey.

“I hit a few good shots today, but for the most part my shots weren’t very solid,” Watson said. “One good thing about it was that I got about the best score I possibly could out of my round.”

Fred Couples, coming off three consecutive runner-up finishes on the Champions Tour, had a 1-over 71.

Couples, like others, had difficulty figuring out the speed of the greens. The recent heat wave has put stress on them, and warmer temperatures are forecast this weekend.

“They’re suffering, and there’s differing kinds of grass,” Lehman said. “That’s probably the biggest thing. It’s not 100 percent pure. So the heat affects them each differently, which is why you see that spotty stuff. That kind of makes the putts really not quite as true as you would hope for.”PGA TOUR

Johnson takes lead

SILVIS, Ill. - It took years for Zach Johnson to feel comfortable at his hometown tournament.

These days Johnson is more relaxed than anyone in the field, and that’s a major reason why he’s in position to repeat as the champion of the John Deere Classic.

Johnson shot a 7-under 64 and is tied with Camilo Villegas for the lead after Thursday’s opening round. It was the 17th consecutive round in the 60s at TPC Deere Run for Johnson, who grew up roughly 100 miles away in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Matt Bettencourt made the field as a late alternate and shot a 6-under 65. He’s tied for second with Daniel Summerhays and Brendon de Jonge.

Boo Weekley is among a host of players at 5-under 66, while three-time tournament champion Steve Stricker is at 4-under 67 heading into today’s second round.

Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) had four birdies and two bogeys for a 2-under 69. He is tied at 41st with a host of others. Bryce Molder (Conway) had three birdies and two bogeys for a 1-under 70.

Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) also had three birdies and two bogeys for a 1-under 70. Scott Gardiner (Farmington) had one birdie, four bogeys and a double bogey for a 5-over 76.

EUROPEAN TOUR

Mickelson shoots 66

INVERNESS, Scotland - Phil Mickelson eased back into links golf with a 6-under 66 at the Scottish Open, leaving him behind two Englishman after a low-scoring first round Thursday.

John Parry, ranked No. 471, held the clubhouse lead after a bogey-free 64 and Simon Khan (65) also tamed the Castle Stuart course in perfect morning conditions in the Scottish Highlands to finish alone in second.

Mickelson is tied for third with six others after quickly hitting his stride in the warmup event for next week’s British Open, finding his range on and around the greens to produce six birdies and an eagle.

Shane Lowry, Mikko Ilonen, James Morrison, Kiradech Aphibarnrat all shot 66s with Mickelson in the morning session. Thongchai Jaidee and Chris Doak joined the seven-man group in a tiefor third place a few hours later.

Only 14 of the 78 players setting out in the morning session finished over par, and 117 of the 156-man field broke par.

LPGA TOUR Two share lead

WATERLOO, Ontario - Angela Stanford and Catriona Matthew shot 8-under 63s to share the first-round lead at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic on Thursday, two strokes ahead of top-ranked Inbee Park.

Park was joined by American Irene Cho, Spain’s Belen Mozo and South Korea’s Hee Young Park and Meena Lee at 65. American Ryann O’Toole and South Koreans Jenny Shin, Amy Yang and Ji Young Oh were three shots off the lead at 66.

Defending champion Brittany Lang opened with a 69.

Stanford closed her late-evening round with three consecutive birdies tojoin Matthew atop the leaderboard under mostly sunny skies at Grey Silo Golf Course.

Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) had five birdies and two bogeys for a 3-under 68. She is tied with 17 others in 23rd place.

Karen Stupples (Arkansas State) had four birdies and three bogeys for a 1-under 70.

WEB.COM TOUR

Prouty, Staten in front

SANDY, Utah -Brian Prouty and B.J. Staten shared the lead Thursday after the first round of the Utah Championship at Willow Creek Country Club.

Both men shot 8-under 63s.

Adam Hadwin, Derek Fathauer, Matt Weibring and Tom Glissmeyer were tied for third, each at 7-under 64.

Ron Whittaker (Little Rock) had six birdies for a 6-under 65. He is tied for eighth place with seven others.

Leaderboard U.S. SENIOR OPEN At Omaha (Neb.) Country Club Purse: TBA ($2.75 million) Yardage: 6,711; Par: 70 (35-35) First Round Jay Don Blake .......................32-35-67 Michael Allen .........................32-35-67 Kenny Perry ..........................34-33-67 Gary Hallberg ........................35-32-67 Tom Lehman .........................35-32-67 Mark O’Meara .......................34-33-67 Fred Funk ..............................34-33-67 Chien Soon Lu ......................36-32-68 Peter Senior ..........................33-35-68 Bernhard Langer ...................33-35-68 Rocco Mediate ......................34-34-68 Complete scores, Page 6C.

Sports, Pages 17 on 07/12/2013

Upcoming Events