By Jeff Hall
SACRAMENTO –
Tom Watson was not affected by the scorching heat and took the first round lead at the U,S. Senior Open at the Del Paso Country Club. Watson may have benefitted from the early tee time and took advantage of it shooting the low round of the day.
Watson finished his first round shooting a 66 . Watson had a birdie opportunity on the final hole of his round
“Man, did I want to make that putt. I was grinding on that putt more than any putt in a long time. Shoot my age in a U.S. Open Championship, that would have been pretty special.”
Watson will have an afternoon tee time in Round two. When asked about the heat yesterday after his practice round.
“Most of the players are not too bothered by the heat,. It’s the cold that gets to them. When the weather is in the 80s we start putting on the cashmeres.” said Watson.
Watson started his round on the back nine. He got off to a strong start and birdied the 10th. Watson also birdied the 15th. He struggled at the 16th where he found the water.
“The golf course is in excellent shape. The only problem is where is the shade?” Watson said “We need to map out where the shady spots are on the course.”
Watson who continues to be one of the longer hitters on the tour did struggle on the longer holes despite his advantage in driving length.
“I didn’t play those holes very well. 18, even though I hit the fairway, I didn’t hit a good second shot, rolled it over the green. Did not play those tough holes well. You’ve got to play those holes well. But I made up for it on the front nine.”
Despite that Watson felt he made things up with his play on the greens.
“I didn’t miss any makable putts with the exception of the very first hole I played in, No. 10, hit it six feet from the hole and missed it. But the putter felt good in my hands as it did in the Watson Challenge a couple weeks ago.”
Five players are one shot behind Watson, including Lee Janzen. Janzen began his round on the back nine where he shot a five-under 31. On the front nine he was two over par.
Like many of the players, Janzen was pleased with the course conditions.
“The golf course is in fantastic shape. The greens are rolling well. Everything seems to be very firm. With all the heat, the staff’s doing a great job with the firmness and the consistency and all of that. So I didn’t have to worry about any of the guessing there.” Said Janzen after his round.
Janzen also played in the U.S. Open last week, but missed the cut there.
I was playing well enough to maybe get in the top ten” which would have been a great accomplishment. I would have been very happy with that. So there’s a little bit of I knew I could do better. It carries over into this week.”
Just a stroke back from the tournament leader Watson, Janzen said, “I think it’s great Tom Watson’s playing well.
Sacramento native Kevin Sutherland got of to a great start and had a 2-under par round . Sutherland is just two shots back of Watson, Sutherland had a large group of followers throughout his round.
Sutherland who had one of the later tee times, said the heat started to get to him at the end.
“I was feeling it out there today. About hole 15, I felt like my legs were starting to go, and I got a little bit of a headache.”
Despite being local and being used to the heat in Sacramento, Sutherland had this to say about the weather conditions.
“It’s hot. There’s no way around it. It’s just hot. Hopefully, Saturday is supposed to be a lot nicer, and Sunday I hope it’s better too.
I felt I drove the ball well today for the most part. Keeping it out of the rough, which is a nice thing. I hit a lot of greens. I had a lot of tap-in pars. I left a lot of it short today. A little bit of pressure, I think, I was putting on myself today. Sutherland said about his round.
Sutherland was asked his feelings of the conditions of his home course at Del Paso.
The USGA came out about two years ago and changed the width of the fairways. As a general rule, the membership loves it. It’s given the course a lot more definition, and it’s really made the course a better golf course. The rough is not normal. The rough around the greens is definitely not normal. You can usually play out of it, and now you’re just kind of hacking out of it. I know the membership this spring was having a hard time getting around the course, but I know they’re enjoying this week. They’re having a great time.”
Sports Radio Service 