Mize enjoys good and bad in 1st round
Larry Mize had such a good day, even his flubbed shots ended up being effective.
Mize birdied half the holes and shot an 8-under 64 Thursday for a one-stroke lead over Bernhard Langer, Corey Pavin and Steve Flesch after the opening round of the Senior Players Championship in Owings Mills, Md.
Seeking his second win on the PGA Tour Champions, Mize, 58, was 5 under after the front nine. He made his only bogey on the par-4 10th hole, but rebounded with birdies on 14, 15 and 16.
“On 15, I hit the 5-iron a little thin but got away with it. Missed it in the right spot and made the putt,” Mize said. “That’s what you’ve got to do when you have these rounds — miss it in the right spot at the right time. That’s what I did today.”
That kind of good fortune, along with a 50-foot putt for a birdie on the ninth hole, provided Mize with the second-best round of his PGA Tour Champions career.
Langer, the three-time defending champion, had a bogey-free round on the 7,196yard Caves Valley Golf Course. “I played very nicely, played smart, played well,” he said.
Langer already has won three events and $1.8 million this year, leaving little doubt that he’s the player to beat this weekend.
“I don’t know if words can do justice to what he’s done to stay that focused, that on top of it,” Mize said.
Mize won the 2010 Montreal Championship for his lone senior title. He won the 1987 Masters and three regular PGA Tour titles.
Pavin eagled the 372-yard, par-4 11th as part of a 5-under 31 on the back nine. “Hit a 3-wood off the tee and had 120 yards in,” he said. “Onebounced it in the hole.”
Flesch gained entry to the tournament Wednesday after Bart Bryant withdrew. He took the last flight out of Cincinnati to play in his sixth tournament since he turned 50 on May 23.
Brandt Jobe and Scott Dunlap shot 66. Jobe was 8 under before pushing a 7iron off the tee and into the water on No. 17. That led to a double bogey, and he bogeyed 18.
John Daly pleased the crowd with loud orange, black and white pants that featured the Baltimore Orioles logo. He shot a 70.
Other tournaments
John Deere Classic: Charles Howell III and Ollie Schniederjans each shot 8-under 63 in perfect morning conditions to share the first-round lead in Silvis, Ill. Howell birdied seven his first nine holes and added a birdie on No. 7 at rain-softened TPC Deere Run. The two-time PGA Tour winner lost a playoff to Kyle Stanley two weeks ago in the Quicken Loans National. Schniederjans birdied five of his last eight holes in his lowest round of the PGA Tour. He earned a PGA Tour card last year through the Web.com Tour. Local favorite Zach Johnson was two strokes back at 65 along with Rory Sabbatini, Patrick Rodgers and Chad Campbell. Johnson, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, won the 2012 tournament.
Scottish Open: Rickie Fowler, the 2015 champion, rolled in five birdies at Dundonald Links in Irvine, Scotland, to shoot a 5-under 67 in the first round. He was in a six-way tie for second place, two shots behind Mikko Ilonen.