Trevino takes narrow first round lead

Lee Trevino had his best round in two years today, shooting a 6-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Cadillac NFL Golf Classic.

"I'm starting to play a little better,'' said Trevino, the 60-year-old star who hasn't won an official event since the 1998 Southwestern Bell Dominion. "I'm starting to get the feel. Every day I work on something.

"I won't accept the fact that I am 60. I still think I can play like I am 50, and I know damn well I can't. But when I get on this type of golf course I still think I can play pretty well.''

Television analyst Gary McCord, who played with Trevino on the tight tree-lined Upper Montclair Country Club, was a shot back along with Dave Stockton, J.C. Snead, Leonard Thompson, and Bruce Summerhays. Bruce Fleisher, the only three-time winner on the Senior PGA Tour this year, was two strokes back with Jim Colbert.

It marked the first time Trevino has held the lead on the Senior PGA Tour since last year's Cadillac NFL Classic. He eventually finished third to winner Allen Doyle, who was among a group of 11 players at 69.

Trevino, who turned 60 in December, didn't get off to a good start, bogeying the par-3 third hole. Over the final 15 holes, he made seven birdies ranging in length from a gimme to a downhill 40-footer on No. 15. He took the lead on the par-5 18th hole, knocking in a 5-footer.

"I haven't played that well in two years,'' Trevino said. "I've been playing so bad some of the tournaments have been giving me my entry fee back."

Trevino's best finish this year was a tie for second in the MasterCard Championship in January. However, he has not finished better than a tie for 18th in his last six events.

"If I play well tomorrow, I have an outside chance of winning, but we have a long way to go and I haven't been playing all that well,'' Trevino said. "If I hit it the next two days like I hit it today, I have a chance.''

Trevino has owned this 6,816-yard course in the shadow of New York City. He won the first tournament here in 1993 and has never finished worse than ninth on the course that places a premium on accuracy and shotmaking.

His $418,550 in earnings are the most in the event.

"I don't have to tell you how I like New Jersey, I'm kind of an adopted son -- New York, New Jersey, Long Island,'' Trevino said. "New Jersey is where I got my start in '67 in the U.S. Open at Baltusrol, I won the (Senior) Open at Ridgewood in '90 and won here in '93.''

Stockton and Summerhays both had seven birdies and two bogeys.

McCord, playing with a sore back, had three birdies and an eagle on the par-5 11th. Snead was 6-under through 15 holes, but three-putted for bogey on the 16th. Thompson, who almost decided to skip the event because he was tired, had six birdies and a bogey.

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