BENTON HARBOR, Mich. – What could be the final KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship began Thursday with a shootout at the Jack Nicklaus Corral – Harbor Shores.
As a wonderful day of scoring (clear, cool skies and little wind) ended and the sun set over Lake Michigan, 50 of the 155 players in the field for the year’s second 50-and-over major shot under par. . 71 on the 6,970-yard Nicklaus layout. Two unexpected golfers, Australian left-hander Richard Green and Englishman Richard Bland, shared the overnight lead with seven-under 64s.
“I think we had as good a day as we’re going to have this week,” said Green, 53, who is ranked 26th on the PGA Champions Tour with $305,353, after his morning round that included an eagle on the Fifth 582-yard hole, par 5, six birdies (three in a row starting on the 9th) and only one setback, a bogey on the 410-yard sixth. “What a nice day you’re going to be so close to Lake Michigan.”
Further: Here are 6 golfers who could win the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores
The 6-foot-4 Green, a former “Sweet Sixteen” qualifier in the 1992 Western Amateur at Point O’Woods, will get no arguments from Bland, 51, who was playing on his first PGA Champions Tour. event and has happened on the LIV Tour.
“It’s good to start the senior career at 7 under,” Bland said after his round that started with a 30 – five under on the back nine with birdies at 11, 12 and 18 and an eagle on the 15th hole for 538. yards before. He birdied Nos. 5 and 6 in front before battling for pars on Nos. 8 and 9.
“There is still a long way to go,” Bland quickly added. “We are all here, we have been around the block enough. All it is is a good start.”
Richard Green hits his drive on the 15th tee during the first round of the 2024 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores Golf Club on Thursday, May 23, 2024 in Benton Harbor, MI.
Green and Bland were two shots ahead of five golfers, including defending KitchenAid Senior PGA Champion Steve Stricker, who at one point was tied for the morning lead at seven under par, but made double bogey on the hole 16, par 4, 425 yards.
Stricker settled for a morning round of 5-under 66, matched by Canadian left-hander Mike Weir and South Korean KJ Choi. In the afternoon, they were joined by Iowa club pros Jeff Schmid and Scott Dunlap, who bogeyed the 570-yard par-5 ninth, otherwise he would have finished third alone.
There were five other golfers who shot a four-under 67: Vijay Singh of Fiji and Katsumasa Miyamoto of Japan, Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland and Americans Brian Gay and Stewart Cink.
Clarke, 55, who won the 2011 Open Championship and often shows his Irish emotions, knew Nicklaus’ layout was there for the taking on Thursday and made sure to do so in a round that included five birdies and just one hiccup, a bogey. on the 12th for 416 yards.
“The golf course is fantastic — it tests every aspect of your game,” said Clarke, who called himself “a mental midget” and shared a laugh. “But today it was pretty quiet. It is one of those courses where patience is required. If I’m not mistaken, I hit every club in my bag. Not all golf courses ask you to do that. This one does it.”
Richard Bland plays his second shot on the sixth hole during the first round of the 2024 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores Golf Club on Thursday, May 23, 2024 in Benton Harbor, MI.
Cink, 51, still seeking his first victory as a senior, was paired in a standout morning trio with Stricker and England’s Paul Broadhurst, the 2018 champion here with a 19-under 265. After starting with a bogeying the first hole, Cink eagled the 582-yard fifth hole, birdied the sixth and then eagled the 570-yard ninth on his way to a 67.
“I hit some beautiful second shots on the par 5s and was able to get to 10 feet for two eagle putts and made both,” said Cink, who finished tied for third with Stricker in his last senior major, the Regions Tradition, two Sundays ago .
Stricker, who is winless in his last seven starts on the senior tour, made seven birdies in his first 15 official holes at Harbor Shores with his daughter Bobbi carrying his clubs. But a bad tee shot on the par-4, 425-yard 16th cost him dearly.
“You know you have to commit to a lot of things here and a lot of shots that can make you a little uncomfortable,” Stricker said. “(I) made a bad swing at 16, hit it into the penalty area. And (that) should have been a ghost at worst, but it also ruined the second shot there. All in all, a good day: seven birdies, good shots, gave me some opportunities and it was a good start.”
Further: Thursday and Friday tee times and groupings for the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship
Among those who will need to play better on Friday to reach the low 70s and ties that reach the weekend’s play (there are 84 golfers with one or more) are Germany’s Bernhard Langer and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington.
Langer, 66, who was just three and a half months removed from Achilles tendon surgery and used a cart, opened with a triple 74 and was tied for 98th with Harrington, who plays with a stiff neck. They were one shot ahead of Broadhurst, who shot 75 on his arthritic ankle that also required a cart.
This article originally appeared in the South Bend Tribune: Champions Tour KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship Round 1
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