Eagle lifts Morgan atop perch

Bryce Alderton

Gil Morgan wasn’t feeling the most confident about his golf game

heading into Friday’s first round of the Toshiba Senior Classic at

Newport Beach Country Club.

How things quickly change.

Morgan, whose worst round in seven prior tournament appearances

was even-par 71, went 3-under the last five holes and finished atop

the leaderboard with a 6-under 65, one stroke ahead of both Wayne

Levi and Tom Jenkins, who each shot 66, and nine golfers at 67 Friday

in cloudy, cool and eventually rainy conditions.

Morgan eagled the 492-yard par-5 15th hole, sinking a 49-foot

putt, and tallied four birdies and no bogeys.

This coming after a tie for 53rd at last week’s SBC Classic at

Valencia Country Club.

“I’ve only finished out of the top 48 three times on the Champions

Tour and last week was one of those times,” said Morgan, who has

finished in the top 10 five times in seven tries at Newport Beach

Country Club. “I tried to figure out what my game was doing. It was

hard.”

Morgan took a trip to Palm Springs earlier in the week to visit

his coach, Ernie Vossal, for some putting tips.

“I’ve been working on putting a lot and I’ve been putting better,”

Morgan said.

He had no three-putts Friday. His round included birdie putts of

14, 15 and 25 feet.

Morgan also dialed in off the tee, hitting 13 of 14 fairways. The owner of 23 PGA Champions Tour victories and seven PGA Tour titles

hit 12 of 18 greens.

“Most of the greens I missed, I still ended up on the fringes, not

too far away from the hole,” Morgan, who has won at least one

tournament in each of his nine seasons on the Champions Tour, said.

“I didn’t have any big mistakes.”

Morgan avoided potential trouble on the par-5 18th after hitting a

3-wood into a fairway bunker. His third shot with a gap wedge bounced

near a grandstand behind the green, but he nestled the subsequent

downhill pitch to within two feet and tapped in for par.

Levi and defending champion Tom Purtzer (68) both eagled the 18th,

each hitting the green in two and sinking their subsequent putts.

Jenkins, who has finished fifth (2000) and eighth (1999) at

Toshiba, beat his previous best score by one stroke at Newport Beach

with his round Friday. Jenkins, nursing a bruised left wrist he fell

on after tripping while retrieving a basketball for his 2-year-old

son two weeks ago, tallied six birdies and a double bogey.

“I drove the ball well, but the golf course was not as easy,” said

Jenkins, who hit 13 of 18 greens and didn’t three-putt.

“These greens, you weren’t sure how they were going to react. Some

were like a trampoline and sometimes the ball would skid and go past

the hole 25 feet,” Jenkins said.

Players also had to contend with varying wind conditions and,

those still on the course after 3 p.m., finished their rounds among

rain.

“The par 5s, 15 and 18 are usually downwind, but [Friday] they

were into the wind,” Jenkins said. “If you missed fairways, there

were some tough spots.

“It got cold. These old bodies don’t do well when it gets below

60.”

Rain is forecasted today.

Eight players finished 3-under, including two-time Toshiba

champion Hale Irwin, Ben Crenshaw, his best round since shooting a 68

in the second round here a year ago, and Morris Hatalsky, runner-up

to Purtzer last year.

“The first 14 holes, there was some significant wind,” Hatalsky

said. “Then it settled down and you could attack the par 5s.”

Keith Fergus and Lonnie Nielsen each shot 4-under 67.

Both players carded four birdies and no bogeys.

Fergus, who hit 12 of 14 fairways Friday, and Nielsen have both

shot in the 60s in all four rounds at Toshiba dating to last year’s

tournament. Fergus

finished a solo fourth, three strokes behind Purtzer, while

Nielsen tied for sixth.

“It’s a fun golf course to play,” said Fergus, who tied for sixth

at last week’s SBC Classic after leading after two rounds. “It helps

that I like the golf course and am positive about it. I hit a lot of

good irons. I didn’t putt well, but it was solid.”

Short irons also keyed Nielsen’s round.

“The best part of my game is short irons and you get a lot of

those out here,” Nielsen said. “It’s a sprint out here. You can’t

afford to shoot even par. I would predict someone would shoot 5, 6 or

7 under par if the weather doesn’t get too bad. Three of the par 5s

are reachable.”

His prediction hit the target.