Doyle leads by one

Allen Doyle, who turned pro at age 47 and has became one of the top players on the Senior PGA Tour, shot a 6-under-par 66 on Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Countrywide Tradition.

Five players, including Tom Kite, were one stroke back in the first major championship of the senior season. Four others were two shots off the lead as the seniors tore apart the 3-year-old Prospector Course designed by Jack Nicklaus and son Gary.

The tournament moved to Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club on the far eastern outskirts of the Phoenix area from Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, another Nicklaus course where the event spent its first 13 years.

Nicklaus, returning to play after withdrawing from the Legends of Golf and the Masters because of a back injury, shot a 1-over 73 on the 7,228-yard course.

``I feel fine,'' said Nicklaus, a four-time winner in the tournament. ``I probably got a little tired as we went on because I just haven't had any competition, but I'll get better as the week goes on. I'll get stronger.''

Joining Kite at 67 were Don Pooley, Dick Mast, Jim Thorpe and Rocky Thompson. Fuzzy Zoeller, John Jacobs, Bruce Fleisher and Jose Maria Canizares opened with 68s, and defending champion Doug Tewell shot a 71 despite a double-bogey on the par-4, 370-yard 15th.

Doyle, for years one of the nation's leading amateurs while running a driving range in Lagrange, Ga., had eight birdies and two bogeys. His most spectacular shot came on the par-3 eighth, when he holed a 20-foot birdie chip from the fringe.

After a bogey on the par-3 17th dropped him into a tie for the lead, Doyle finished the round with a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th.

``When I make eight birdies I usually get off the course and go hide somewhere,'' Doyle said. ``I'm really happen when that happens,'' Doyle said.

Doyle is winless in nine starts this year after winning twice last year and leading the tour in earnings with $2,553,582. He has seven career victories on the Senior PGA Tour.

A low-ball driver with an unorthodox swing, Doyle didn't think the Prospector layout suited his skills during this week's practice rounds. But the ball bounced farther on the fairways and the greens were considerably softer Thursday, Doyle said. He expects officials to toughen the course for the second round.

``I'm going to guess that they'll kind of see what the greens were today and probably firm them up some,'' Doyle said. ``So it would surprise me if we went out every day and did this.''

Kite, the 2000 champion who has two victories this year, said the course was easier than Desert Mountain.

``In terms of separating field, this course doesn't do it nearly as much as Desert Mountain,'' Kite said. ``This golf course is a little bit more playable.''

That could change Friday if the cooler temperatures and brisk wind materialize as forecast.

``If we get the weather I keep hearing everybody talk about -- a high of 75 degrees and the wind blowing 25 mph -- all of a sudden that could really separate a lot of stuff,'' Kite said.

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