Irwin & Marsh share first day honours

It is no surprise that Hale Irwin is atop the leaderboard. It is somewhat surprising that he is joined by Graham Marsh.

Irwin, the Senior PGA Tour's best player, and Marsh, who has struggled all season, each shot 5-under-par 66 on Friday to share the lead after the first round of the $1.85 million Allianz Championship.

Irwin sets the standard that all other members of the elder circuit try to match. He has won three times this season, including earlier this month at the 3M Championship. He tops the money list with $2,206,706.

Marsh is not even approaching Irwin's level of excellence. The native of Australia has just one top-10 finish in 20 events this season, placing ninth in the Audi Senior Classic in February. He has won just once in the last five years, claiming the 1999 Tradition.

"At this point in the year, players have settled into the type of year they are going to have," Irwin said. "Not many change the way they've played to this point."

To further contrast the players, Irwin's round was his 14th straight below par. Marsh's round was his best of the season.

"It's nice to get away to a good start," Marsh said. "I'm probably playing a little better than I'm scoring lately."

Marsh could have had sole possession of the lead but bogeyed the par-4 18th after driving into a fairway bunker. Irwin played bogey-free, but both golfers felt they could have putted better.

"The greens are hard to read," said Marsh, who has the opening-round lead for the first time since the 1999 Senior Players Championship. "A few can play some tricks. I was trying to make certain I didn't overread the greens today."

"I played exceptionally well tee to green," Irwin said. "I left some putts out there. I never got the right pace. They look faster than they are."

The duo is one shot better than a group of five, including Allen Doyle, Bob Gilder and Larry Nelson. Nine more golfers are at 68.

"It's Friday. You don't get too keyed up, or at least I don't, on Friday," said Doyle, who also bogeyed 18. "You want to go out and have a good, solid round, and I did that, other than 18."

Defending champion Jim Thorpe struggled to a par 71 at Glen Oaks Country Club. Sixth on the money list, he talked about chasing Irwin.

"Hale's on top of his game," he said. "He's playing very well. Every week he's there. He's tough to beat. He's playing beautifully. To beat him, you really have to shoot low."

Morris Hatalsky, who ended a 12-year drought by winning last week's Uniting Fore Care Classic, carded a 69.

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