Three share first day honours

Harold Henning has arthritis in both knees. Simon Hobday had a swing like ``a clutch you can't get in gear.'' The South Africans had something else today - a share of the lead with Larry Nelson after the first round of the FleetBoston Classic.

``This must be an old man's course,'' Hobday said, ``old South Africans.''

Hobday, 60, and Henning, 65, shot 5-under-par 67s on the Nashawtuc Country Club course. Neither has a top-10 finish this year, while Nelson, 52, has 15 of them in 22 events and is third on the Senior PGA Tour money list.

Henning and Nelson shot well despite ailments that have limited their practice time.

``I have very bad knees,'' Henning said. ``I can't walk very far.''

Nelson isn't immune from pain even though he's a relative youngster on the tour.

``I played really well,'' he said. ''`I haven't played a lot the last month. My back has been hurting. There's a little bit of inflammation in one of my vertebrae.''

Still, Nelson has won two tournaments this year and seven of 79 during his senior career. Hobday has five wins in 294, and Henning just three in 482.

Five players were one shot back at 68 - Jim Albus, Walter Hall, Tom Kite, Chuck Moran and Howard Twitty - with seven others at 69. Defending champion Tom McGinnis shot 70, and Doug Tewell, winner of last week's Novell Utah Showdown, had a 72.

Hubert Green's streak of holes without a bogey ended at 72 when he shot a 5 on the 365-yard sixth hole. The senior tour record is 97 holes without a bogey set in 1994 by Jack Kiefer.

Arnold Palmer followed one of his best rounds on the senior tour with a bad one, shooting 79. In last Sunday's final round in Utah, he had a 70, shooting his age for the second time as a member of the tour. The first time was on his 66th birthday, Sept. 10, 1996, in the GTE Northwest Classic.

Hobday started well last week with a 65 but struggled after that and wound up tied for 21st. On Friday, he missed just two fairways off the tee and had five birdies and 13 pars.

``I played like my old black dog the past three years,'' he said, but now, ``my swing feels more comfortable than it did at the end of last week.''

Henning tied him with a round that was far less consistent - 10 pars, five birdies, two bogeys and an eagle on the par-4, 307-yard fourth hole when he holed a sand wedge shot from 90 yards.

``That was the foundation of the whole round,'' he said. ``I haven't had an everyday swing. I've been fiddling. My game has been inconsistent.''

He had bogeys at the 13th and 16th holes but birdies at 14, 15 and 17 before making par at 18. Nelson finished strongly with birdies at the 14th, 15th and 18th holes. The last one came on an 8-foot putt.

Hobday went to 5 under with a birdie on the 342-yard 15th where he holed a 4-foot putt. He made a 5-footer to avoid three-putting at the 17th, then missed a 25-foot birdie putt at the 18th.

He'd like to improve on last week's tournament when he followed his opening-round 65 with a 70 and a 75 in the last two rounds. For now, he's savoring Friday's performance.

``When you're 40, you look forward to playing tomorrow,'' Hobday said. ``When you're 60, you're just glad you played well.''

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