Morgan in familiar spot
Associated PressPublished July 9, 2004
DEARBORN, Mich. - Gil Morgan led after the first round of the Senior Players Championship for the second straight year.
He hopes to stay on top this time.
Morgan shot 7-under 65 Thursday, one shot short of his first-round record. His three-stroke lead over six players is the largest opening-round advantage in the 22-year history of the tournament, one of the Champions Tour's five majors.
Morgan started last year with 64 - matching the first-round mark set by Hale Irwin in 2002 - but went on to finish tied for fifth. He followed his strong start with rounds of 73-72-69.
"You'd like to think that your confidence is high and that you've got a chance to go forward, but you know, sometimes you back up," Morgan said. "How many times do you see 63-73, that type of deal on the scoreboard?"
Dana Quigley, the Ironman of the tour, was in the group at 4 under. The tournament is the 250th consecutive event in which Quigley has been eligible and has played since 1997, and his 235th in a row overall.
"It's obviously something I'm very proud of," Quigley said. "I don't want to minimize the fact of this milestone, but it's really another day of golf for me.
"It's a milestone because no one else has ever done it, but I don't think it's even halfway to be honest with you. Unless I got hurt or injured, I just can't imagine me taking a week off."
Also shooting 68 were: 2001 champion Allen Doyle, Bruce Fleisher, Isao Aoki, Jose Maria Canizares and Mark James.
Irwin, the top-ranked player, was in a group of seven at 69. Defending champion Craig Stadler and Jim Thorpe, who has won twice in five weeks, will start today's second round at 2 under.
PGA: Jose Coceres birdied eight of his first 11 holes and shot 9-under 62 to take a one-stroke lead in the opening round of the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill.
Coceres, seeking his first tour victory since winning twice in 2001, made four birdie putts within 9 feet and rolled in another from 45 to make the turn at 6 under. After two more birdies, Coceres made a 36-foot birdie putt at the par-4 4th in his bogey-free round at the TPC at Deere Run.
Vaughn Taylor eagled the par-5 17th to briefly share the lead, but he three-putted the final hole for bogey and finished with 63.
Greg Chalmers and tour rookie Daniel Chopra were two shots behind Coceres. All three took advantage of a morning round played with soft greens and little wind.
Vijay Singh, the defending champion, never got going and finished 2-under 69.
LPGA: Less than a week after winning the U.S. Women's Open, Meg Mallon shot 7-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead in the first round of the Canadian Women's Open in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
It was a seven-birdie, bogey-free round and seemed an extension of her final-round 6-under 65 Sunday when she won her second U.S. Open.
Gloria Park, Johanna Head and Kris Tschetter were 5 under, while Jennifer Rosales, Dawn Coe-Jones and Angela Stanford were another stroke back.
Mallon rallied from a three-stroke deficit to win last weekend. She extended her streak to 43 straight holes without bogey - the third-longest stretch on the tour the season. And she is 17 under in her past three rounds.
"You have to carry your momentum and know how to handle that," Mallon said. "And when you're playing well you have to go with it and don't fight it. And certainly that's what I'd like to do this week."
EUROPEAN PGA: Jose Manuel Lara shot 6-under 65 and was tied for the lead with Phillip Price and 50-year-old Eduardo Romero at the Scottish Open in Luss.
Lara needs a top finish to get into next week's British Open. The top player at Loch Lomond not already eligible gets in.
"My goal was to come here and play well and try to take the spot here," Lara said.
Phil Mickelson, the Masters champion and U.S. Open runnerup, was 1 over after skipping his practice round to get a look at Royal Troon, site of the British Open.
Former British Open champion Tom Weiskopf, who won at Troon and designed Loch Lomond, had 80.