Physically, Ed Dougherty has been a mess these last few years.

He had major shoulder surgery, herniated two discs in his back and tore a ligament in his wrist. His litany of ailments could fill a medical journal.

But Dougherty shrugged all that aside today and rallied from a faltering start to grab the first-round lead at the U.S. Senior Open.

Helped by two eagles, Dougherty matched a Senior Open record with a 30 on the back nine of the Des Moines Golf and Country Club and finished at 4-under-par 68 -- good for a two-stroke lead.

"I didn't realize what I was shooting," Dougherty said. "I was just shooting holes."

From No. 9 on, he shot them very well.

The tricky, undulating greens that were the talk of the practice rounds proved no problem for Dougherty, who curled in a 20-foot putt for a birdie, three-putted only once and 10 times got away with just one putt.

"I am absolutely thrilled," said Dougherty, who won only once on the PGA Tour and has yet to win as a senior. "But it is only the first round. I hope I am here Sunday afternoon talking to you. Then I will be really thrilled.''

Gil Morgan, Bruce Summerhays and Walter Hall were two strokes back at 70, with defending champion Hale Irwin, 1997 winner Graham Marsh and 1996 champ Dave Stockton leading a seven-man group at 71.

Dougherty's cushion would have been even bigger had he shot just a little better at the start. He bogeyed three of the first eight holes and had to give himself a pep talk while walking to the ninth tee.

"I said maybe I can grab a birdie here, make the turn 2-over and have a chance to shoot par,'' he said. "I think even par in a U.S. Open is a great round.''

Par? How about 6-under for the back nine.

Dougherty sank a 10-foot putt for birdie on No. 9, then turned it on. He made par on No. 10, sank a 5-foot putt for birdie on No. 11 and got an eagle on the par-4 12th hole with an 8-iron after pushing his tee shot into the right rough.

"It just landed soft and rolled into the cup," he said. "I mean, that was really something.''

His second eagle came on No. 15, a par-5. From 250 yards, Dougherty used a 5-wood to drop the ball 6 feet from the pin and rolled in the putt. He made his curling 20-footer for birdie on 16, and parred the final two holes.

Dougherty's physical woes began with a bum left shoulder. He had major surgery on the shoulder in April 1996 and couldn't even pick up a one-pound weight when he began physical therapy, hard to imagine of a man who now sports burly 15-inch forearms.

On his 50th birthday in 1997, he herniated two discs in his back squatting to pick up a box of tissue. And earlier this year, Dougherty blew out a ligament in his right wrist.

"It has just been the last three weeks that I have been playing without a brace on my wrist," Dougherty said. "So I am doing all right.''

Summerhays felt fortunate to play in the morning, before the heat of the day settled in and the wind picked up.

"The greens are getting firm and a lot faster," he said. "It might be a little diabolical out there."

Off the 11 golfer who broke par, Morgan, Stockton and Jose Maria Canizares (71) were the only ones who teed off after 8:50 a.m. local time.

Summerhays was 3-under after 16 but hit his tee shot on No. 17, a par-3, over the green into the rough. He ended up with a bogey.

Morgan was 3-under through 17 and looking good for a birdie on No. 18 when he took his approach shot from 110 yards out. But the ball flew over the green and he bogeyed the hole.

Irwin's 71 was six strokes better than his opening round in last year's Open, but he wasn't taking much solace in that. He missed makeable birdie putts on the first two holes and never got into a groove.

"The goal today was to get off to a good start and I didn't do that," said Irwin, who has won three of his last five tournaments.

"That will be the goal tomorrow,'' he said, "to get off to one of those good starts where you get the momentum early and you don't feel like you are trying to catch up during the round. Because the greens are not going to allow you to catch up a lot."

Bruce Fleisher, the top money winner this year on the Senior PGA Tour, faded after starting with two birdies and was five strokes back at 73. Vicente Fernandez, who lost to Irwin by one stroke in last year's Open, had a 74. Allen Doyle, a three-time winner this year, and Larry Nelson both shot 75.

DIVOTS: Richard King in 1983, Gordon Jones in 1987, Gary Player in 1990 and Tom Weiskopf in 1993 also shot 30s on the front or back nine in the Senior Open. ... Dougherty collects toy trains and has so many that he keeps them in a two-story building behind his Linwood, Pa., home. ... Though he's no threat to win, Arnold Palmer attracted by far the largest gallery among the 35,000 fans in the tournament. Fans stood 8- and 10-deep to watch him shoot an 81, his second-highest score ever in a Senior Open. ... The United States Golf Association has no official attendance records, but a spokesman said the crowd was believed to the largest ever for a Senior Open.

AP