Blake takes 1-stroke lead at Senior Players Championship
The temperature was in the mid-50s and the wind was howling Thursday when Jay Don Blake teed off at 7:30 a.m. in the first group of the Constellation Senior Players Championship, wondering what havoc the weather was going to create in the opening round of the PGA Tour Champions major.
The temperature was in the mid-50s and the wind was howling Thursday when Jay Don Blake teed off at 7:30 a.m. in the first group of the Constellation Senior Players Championship, wondering what havoc the weather was going to create in the opening round of the PGA Tour Champions major.
"We had about three, four holes right in a row just dead into the wind and it was cold, ball was going nowhere," Blake said. "It was just kind of survival."
Blake somehow survived to the tune of a 2-under 68 over the Wissahickon course at the Philadelphia Cricket Club and, to his surprise, saw that score hold up the entire day, allowing him to take a 1-stroke lead over four players.
The wind blew out of the northwest at 15 to 20 mph, with gusts of 25 and higher. The absence of trees on the course helped players determine wind direction, but the velocity remained constant the entire day, even after temperatures warmed into the low 70s in afternoon sunshine.
"At times, it was at least two clubs," said Jeff Sluman, one of the players tied for second at 69. "[The wind] would lay down for a minute and then it would roar back. In conditions like this you just have to be very patient, understand the shot you're trying to hit, and then really try and execute it. . . . It was a bit of a lottery at times."
Sluman shared second with World Golf Hall of Fame member Vijay Singh, 53, playing in just his second Champions event of the season; Brandt Jobe; and Brad Bryant. Sluman, Singh, and Jobe all had chances to join Blake in a tie at the top but bogeyed the 18th hole.
Colin Montgomerie, whose three PGA Tour Champions wins all have been majors, was in a group at even-par 70 with Billy Andrade, Scott Dunlap, and Doug Garwood. Two-time defending champion Bernhard Langer and eight-time major winner Tom Watson, 66, led a group of nine players at 71.
John Daly struggled in the elements, making one birdie and hitting only six greens for a round of 76, and then declined a post-round interview.
Blake, 57, who has three wins on the tour but none since 2012, opened with back-to-back birdies on two downwind holes. Into the wind, it was a different story; he said he struck a "pretty good" tee ball on the par-5 fifth.
"It's only like 220 to carry the bunker there, and I was only about 10 yards past it," he said. "This morning it was so cold, the balls weren't going very far."
Blake carded three bogeys in mid-round to go over par for the day, but he closed with three birdies on his last five holes, including a 10-foot putt at No. 17 that got him to 2-under.
"Tough golf course today and I'm just happy to get done with a couple under par," he said. "Hit it pretty decent all day . . . played well and just kind of executed some good shots out there."
Langer, the tour's top money winner this year, also opened with two birdies. He then put 12 straight pars on his card before making bogey on three of his last four holes, a stretch he admitted "leaves a sour taste, because I played extremely nice up until that point.
"Finishing like that is no fun," he said, "so we'll get it together tomorrow and try again."
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