Ahern takes opening day honours

Jim Ahern shot a 7-under-par 64 for his lowest round of the year Friday, giving him a one-shot lead at the Toshiba Senior Classic on the Champions Tour.

Ahern had eight birdies and one bogey in tying his best round as a senior.

Rodger Davis, an Australian seeking his first tour victory, and Lanny Wadkins were tied for second entering Saturday's second round of the $1.55 million tournament at the 6,571-yard, par-71 Newport Beach Country Club.

"I played pretty well and made some nice putts," Ahern said. "But I haven't been putting well. On Wednesday, my caddie, who had been caddying for Bob Murphy, told me why don't I putt more like Bob Murphy. So I felt like Bob Murphy was inside my body out there today.

"I have to give Murphy some credit because I said before I hit every putt that I was Bob Murphy. So I putted like him and I hope he sticks around for the weekend. He putts really good. But he has a much slower stroke. So I just really tried to slow my stroke down. I just had a mental image of his stroke all day long."

The 54-year-old Ahern is looking for his second victory since joining the tour in 1999. He won the AT&T Canada Senior Open in his seventh event.

Wayne Levi, David Eger, Mark McCumber and Jose Maria Canizares were two strokes off the pace at 66. Defending champion Hale Irwin, Rafael Navarro, John Jacobs and Bruce Lietzke were next at 67.

Davis birdied the first three holes and made an eagle at the par-5, 492-yard 15th hole, tapping in a short putt. He had four birdies, the eagle and no bogeys on the day.

"I hit a lot of shots close to the hole but I didn't make very many putts," Davis said. "On this tour, you have to have a good first round. You've got to get out of the blocks fast. Too many guys out here can go low the first day and they don't back up."

Wadkins also had a bogey-free round with six birdies and 12 pars.

The bogey-free round was a nice diversion for Davis, who was robbed of his Rolex watch while dining during the Bosque Real Championship in Mexico two weeks ago.

"One of the robbers hit me in the head with his gun and I just took my Rolex and threw it in the air," he said. "No one saw it happen as we were separated by a partition from the rest of the diners.

"When they came to our table, we actually thought they were joking. We were definitely set up. It took the two robbers only 45 seconds to rob both tables."

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