Allen Doyle fired
a 9-under-par 63 today to take a one-shot lead over Gil Morgan in the opening
round of the TD Waterhouse Senior PGA Championship.
In search of his fourth victory this year, Doyle birdied the first four holes.
The 63 was a record for the new Tiffany Greens Golf Club, which is playing host
to the championship for the first time.
Jim Thorpe, Ed Dougherty and Brian Barnes were at 66, and Fred Gibson, Frank Conner,
Bob Dickson and Hugh Baiocchi shot 67.
Forty-four of the 78 players in the field broke par.
Defending champion Larry Ziegler shot a 2-under 70 and 1999 money leader Hal Irwin
bogeyed two of the first three holes on the way to a 72.
Morgan, yet to win on the Senior PGA Tour this year, dropped out of a tie for
the lead on the final hole when his 8-iron approach went 20 feet over the green
and he then missed a 45-foot putt for par.
Doyle used a hot putter for his 9-under round. After chipping close for birdie
on the first hole, he rolled in putts of 10, 8 and 10 feet on the next three holes
to go 4-under. He added an eagle on the par-5, 530-yard 11th when he chipped in
from 10 feet off the green.
In his first year on the senior tour, Doyle, 51, ranks third on the money list
with $1,353,266.
"To
be in position to win $1.5 million or $2 million for a guy who made what I have
made through the years, I feel like I have hit the lotto," said Doyle, an outstanding
amateur who at age 47 became the oldest rookie ever on the PGA Tour.
Firing a course-record 64 in the opening round, Doyle got his first victory at
Naples, Fla., in February, then captured the PGA Seniors Championship in April
and the NFL Classic in June.
Morgan, who won six events last year, eagled the 550-yard ninth hole with a 4-wood
to within nine feet and then birdied four of the next five holes with putts of
40, 18, 18 and 10 feet.
"The
eagle really helped get me going but I haven't been putting up to the level I
putted the last two years," Morgan said.
The day's best comeback was turned in by Bob Murphy, who had three shots at No.
1 hit near the green and bounce back into a lake for a quadruple bogey-9 but still
finished at 3-under 69. "That's like four bogeys, which is easy to make in a week,"
Murphy said.
The
tournament opened in almost ideal weather Friday but that could change, especially
with rain and cooler weather predicted for Sunday's final round.
"We
won't keep shooting what we are shooting," Doyle predicted. "The wind didn't blow
until the last three or four holes. If the wind starts to blow, it will make for
a different course. The first day doesn't mean anything anyway. It's always good
to get a good start but you need to be in the fight on the back nine on Sunday."
