 Watson tees off in view of Turnberry's famous landmark |
Tom Watson continued his love affair with Turnberry to propel himself to the top of the leaderboard at the Senior British Open. Watson, who won the second of his five Open titles at Turnberry in 1977, shot a opening round of 66 to lie at four under par.
Enjoying the benign early morning conditions, Watson, who shot a 69 on the final day of last week's Open at Royal St George's, carded five birdies and dropped just one shot at the fourth hole.
Fellow American Tom Kite recovered from an opening double bogey to share the lead.
The former US Open winner went on to shoot six birdies, including gains at the closing two holes.
"I am delighted with the score but my driving was terrible," said Watson.
"I think I only hit about three or four fairways. I have a lot of hard work to do to sort it out."
Scotland's Russell Weir lies one shot behind the leaders after 18 holes along with American Mark McCumber and English duo Carl Mason and Denis Durnian.
 | TURNBERRY LEADERBOARD (GB&Ire unless stated) -4 T Watson (US), T Kite (US) -3 D Smyth, F Zoeller (US), D Durnian, R Weir, C Mason, M McCumber (US), N Sugai (Jap) |
Defending champion Noboru Sugai got off to a blistering start, making six birdies over the first 11 holes but the Japanese dropped three shots over the closing holes to join the bunch on 67.
Former Masters and US Open winner Fuzzy Zoeller and Irishman Des Smyth both dropped a shot at the tricky eighteenth to miss out on a share of the lead.
Watson's playing partner, Jack Nicklaus, who was edged out by just one stroke when the pair went head-to-head in 1977's famous 'duel in the sun' managed a level par round of 70.
Nicklaus, the most successful golfer of all time with 18 Majors to his name, made three birdies but each gain was almost immediately followed by a dropped shot.
Gary Player, nine-time Major winner and the victor in 1990 when the Senior Briish Open was last played at Turnberry, got to three under par after seven holes but faltered with four bogeys and a double bogey at the sixteenth.
The other Major champions taking part this week are Bob Charles, Hale Irwin, Tony Jacklin, Andy North, Arnold Palmer and Craig Stadler.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
