BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — What could be the final KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship started Thursday with a Shootout at the Jack Nicklaus Corral — Harbor Shores.
When a wonderful day for scoring — clear, cool skies with little wind — was done and the sun was setting over Lake Michigan, 50 of the 155 players in the field for the year’s second major for the 50-and-over crowd shot under par 71 at the 6,970-yard Nicklaus design. Two unexpected golfers — Australian left-hander Richard Green and England’s Richard Bland — shared the overnight lead at 7-under 64.
“I think we had as good a day as we’re going to have this week,” said the 53-year-old Green, who is 26th on the PGA Champions Tour with $305,353, after his morning round which included an eagle on the 582-yard, par-5 fifth hole, six birdies (three in a row starting at No. 9) and just one hiccup, a bogey at the 410-yard sixth. “As good a day as you’re going to get really this close to Lake Michigan.”
The 6-foot-4 Green, a former “Sweet 16” qualifier in the 1992 Western Amateur down the road at Point O’Woods, will get no argument from the 51-year-old Bland, a member of LIV Golf who was playing in his inaugural PGA Champions Tour event.
“It’s nice to start the senior career with 7 under,” Bland said after his round which started with a five-under 30 on the back nine with birdies at 11, 12 and 18 and an eagle at the 538-yard 15th hole before he birdied Nos. 5 and 6 on the front before scrambling for pars at Nos. 8 and 9.
“There’s still a long way to go,” Bland quickly added. “We’re all here, we’ve been around the block enough. All it is is a good start.”
Green and Bland were two strokes 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 but double-bogeyed the par-4, 425-yard 16th hole.
Stricker settled for a morning round of five-under 66 matched by Canadian lefthander Mike Weir and South Korea’s K.J. Choi. In the afternoon, they were joined by Iowa club professional Jeff Schmid and Scott Dunlap, who bogeyed the 570-yard, par-5 ninth or he would have had third by himself.
There were another five golfers who shot four-under 67s – Fiji’s Vijay Singh and Japan’s Katsumasa Miyamoto, Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke and Americans Brian Gay and Stewart Cink.
The 55-year-old Clarke, who won the 2011 Open Championship and often shows his Irish emotions, knew the Nicklaus design was there for the taking Thursday and made sure he did in a round which included five birdies and just one hiccup, a bogey at the 416-yard 12th.
“The golf course is great — tests all aspects of your game,” said Clarke, who called himself “a mental midget” and shared a laugh. “But I was pretty calm today. It’s one of those courses that patience is required. If I’m not wrong, I hit every club in my bag. Not all golf courses ask you to do that. This one does.”
The 51-year-old Cink, still seeking his first victory as a senior, was paired in a featured morning threesome with Stricker and England’s Paul Broadhurst, the 2018 champion here with a record 19-under 265 score. After starting with a bogey at the first hole, Cink eagled the 582-yard fifth, 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 inside 10 feet for two eagle putts and made them both,” said Cink, who finished tied for third with Stricker in their last senior major, the Regions Tradition, two Sundays ago.
Stricker, who hasn’t won in his last seven starts on the senior circuit, had seven birdies in his first official 15 holes at Harbor Shores with daughter Bobbi carrying his clubs. But a poor tee shot at the par-4, 425-yard 16th cost him dearly.
“You know you have to commit to a lot of things out here, and a lot of shots that may make you feel a little uncomfortable,” Stricker said. “(I) put a bad swing on it at 16, hit it into the penalty area. And (that) then should have been a bogey at worst but messed up the second shot there, too. All in all, a good day — seven birdies, putted well, gave myself some opportunities, and it was a good start.”
Among those who will need to play better Friday to make the low 70 and ties who make it to the weekend play (there are 84 golfers at one-over or better) are Germany’s Bernhard Langer and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington.
The 66-year-old Langer, who is just 3½ months removed from Achilles tendon surgery and had the use of a cart, opened with a three-over 74 and was tied for 98th with Harrington, who is playing with a stiff neck. They were one shot ahead of Broadhurst, who shot 75 on his arthritic ankle which also required a cart.