BENTON PORT, Mich. — Steven Alker started soaring with an eagle on the day birdies flew around the harbor in the first round of the PGA Senior Championship.
The 50-year-old New Zealander, who has won two titles and leads the PGA Tour money list with nearly $1.2 million, started his first run with a 25-foot downhill eagle putt on the 539-yard par 5 10th. round game. 240-yard method using a 5-wood. He then closed out the afternoon round with his sixth birdie of the day for a 7-under 64 to tie 56-year-old Bob Estes later in the day.
After the first round at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Lake Michigan course, Alke and Estes lead Georgia club pro Paul Clarkston and 2003 Masters champion Canadian southpaw Mike Weir, 52, since Home to four senior PGAs since 2012.
“I’m playing free now,” said Alke, who didn’t seem worried at all as he played in the afternoon with World Golf Hall of Famers Ernie Els and Bernhard Langer, who shot an under-par 67. Pole and 68. “It was a little tight on the first tee, but I birdied and was aggressive and we could do that today because the greens were a little soft and the course had softened. It was kind of like waiting there. Take it.”
Estes took his share, recording seven birdies and no bogeys, five of which came just after he moved to the front nine at Harbour Shores. He made birdies 1, 3, 5, 6 and 9 on his way to the clubhouse.
“I like a clean card,” said Estes, whose only top 10 finish this season was a solo fourth at the Rapiscan System Classic, which Arc won on April 3. “I made some good saves on both sides.”
Like the four previous senior PGA Championships at Harbour Shores, this season’s second major for the 50-and-over crowd is shaping up to be a low-scoring event. A total of 56 golfers shot under 70 or better on a cloudy day in their 70s at the 156-player field after a night of rain softened the course on a cloudy day in the 70s . More rain and cooler temperatures are expected for Friday’s game.
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Clarkston, 54, was one of 39 club pros from Richmond Hill, Georgia, who birdied the first three holes and then two more on the front nine for a 32. Then made two more birdies on the back nine. .
“I had a great front nine,” said Clarkston, who once played on the national tour with Alke. “I hit a lot of good shots and kept the ball in the game, I had a chip (at No. 7). A lot of good things happened early on.”
Weir, who made just $131,543 this season, was buoyed by a 40th-place finish with a 67 in his first senior major of the season. The good vibes continued Thursday as Will birdied the par-5 10th, three more on the back nine and four up front, offsetting two. A bogey.
“I started to find something there (in tradition) with my short game, especially the putter, and I’m taking it a step further today,” Weir said.
Duffy Waldorf and Robert Karlsson had 66s in the afternoon, 10 players had 67s, led by Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, second-placed Alker, Els and DiMarco, who played for the first time at Harbour Shores but in Southwest Michigan Outstanding performance in the Department of Golf Championships. In 1988, he won the 1988 Western Amateur Championship as a 19-year-old Florida Gator at Point O’Woods Golf and Country Club near Fort Mill.
“It’s hard to recall that far… Obviously I have some good memories from there,” said DiMarco, who had six birdies in his round, including five in a six-hole stretch from the sixth hole bird. “I love undulating greens, they have a lot of imagination about them.”
Winning last year at South Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but missed the cut at last week’s PGA Championship, his reigning senior PGA champion Alex Cejka shot a 68 The results entered the group of 13 people. The group includes 64-year-old Lange, who has won 11 senior majors.
“You have to turn it on,” Cejka said. “That’s what I did today. My goal was just to find a lot of fairways. If I did that, I could attack the pins. It all depends on the weather in the next few days. If we have the weather – the last few days It’s been here the times (several times) – very low score.”
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