McCARRON LEADS AT BEAR MOUNTAIN
Scott McCarron took on the starring role in Round 1 of the PGA Tour Champions’ Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship, but Doug Garwood shone in his smaller part, just like his dad Kelton used to do back in the day.
McCarron recorded a course record 9-under 62 in the warmer (if you can call it that) portion of cool, wet conditions on the Mountain layout, but the lesser known Garwood starred for the first five hours of the day.
As a child, Garwood witnessed his dad play bit roles in movies and television shows, including that of an undertaker in the old Gunsmoke series that starred James Arness as Marshall Matt Dillon.
Now Garwood is hoping he can ride off into the sunset this weekend with a trophy in hand.
“That would be nice. Let’s do it,” the 53-year-old native of Van Huys, California, said with a chuckle.
“He was a character actor. He did a lot of episodic TV, a lot of westerns. I’ve seen him get shot, knifed, punched — everything. He’s been dead for 25 years now, but I got to go on a few sets, met a few famous people,” Garwood said of watching his dad’s career.
Garwood turned in a solid 7-under 64, which included a 6-under 30 on the back nine, capped by a six-foot birdie on 18. The round had tied the previous course record established by Riley Wheeldon at the RBC Canadian Open pre-qualifier on May 30 before McCarron blitzed the track.
Garwood stunned the galleries on hand during the cooler part of the day and even startled himself, especially after his start — a bogey on the par-5 opening hole.
“After the first hole, yeah,” he said when asked if he was surprised. “I was not in good shape. I was starting to get dizzy, I’ve had some vertigo bouts and didn’t even know if I’d be able to make it. If you would have told me I’d shoot 7-under I would have said, ‘Yeah, right.’ ”
In fact, he topped his second shot, a 3-wood on No. 1.
“I swung a little fast, skulled it into the trees off to the left, pitched out real quick without even looking at it. I was probably a little hasty there. But golf can be like that. That’s why you keep trying,” said Garwood, who studied English literature at Fresno State University back in the mid-1980s and turned pro in 1989.
He’s playing this season on a medical exemption after sustaining a back injury last year and he couldn’t even recall his last win.
Garwood, who is tied for second with Jerry Smith, two strokes back of McCarron, played with hand warmers and a heat patch on his back. One of the tour’s longer hitters, Garwood said he started putting “like a demon” and birdied four straight holes to start the back nine.
“It’s Day 1, it will be a little more stressful if I’m in the last group [today], but that’s what we’re here for. I enjoy the spotlight, so I should be OK,” he shared.
McCarron, meanwhile, is more well known and one of those former Canadian Tour (now PGA Tour Canada-Mackenzie Tour) players who cut his teeth here up north.
“This is my new favourite golf course,” said McCarron, who shot a 61 in Round 3 of the Payless Open in Victoria at Gorge Vale back in 1993, but finished second to then roommate Brandt Jobe. He qualified for the Canadian Tour at Morningstar in the early 1990s.
“It was a tough day. There was a little drizzle, a little bit of breeze and the fog came in and out, and there were a couple of holes where we had to wait till we could see the fairway.
“I got off to a great start, birdied the first three holes, made a couple of nice putts, made some good shots and the rest of the round kept going,” said McCarron who has ties to B.C. with his mom from Kaslo in the Kootenays and an uncle in Vancouver.
McCarron (who once stated: “I’m a Canadian Tour survivor. I should have a T-shirt with that on it”) is also three shots up on Woody Austin and Jeff Sluman at 6-under 65. Olin Browne and Wes Short Jr. are another shot in arrears.
Leaders will head out today at 1:11 p.m. with first times at 8:25 a.m.