First round is wet and wild

NEWPORT BEACH ? Experience and the age that comes with it was received favorably at the Toshiba Classic Friday. The Newport Beach Country Club course rewarded precision over power, and putting and chipping were held in high regard.

With light rain sprinkling the course for half of the day, the greens treated putts differently than the mostly sunny week leading up. So those with a vast knowledge of the course thrived, especially the 60-and-over crowd.

Three of the top four spots on the leaderboard were taken by golfers who were opening at least their eighth Toshiba Classic, all three over the age of 60.

Bob Eastwood is alone on top with a first round 6-under-par 65, after he chipped in for birdie on the 18th hole with his 5-iron.

Eastwood even did a little prognosticating before the shot, when he looked toward his caddy and said: “About the only thing I think I haven’t done today is chip one in.”

The 11-year veteran of the Toshiba Classic did and moved closer to winning a tournament he finished second at in 1996, on a course he first played 30 years ago on the PGA Tour.

“I think experience helps a lot,” said Eastwood, who is 106th on the money list this year. “There are a lot of tendencies, but certain greens go against those tendencies.”

But if there is one thing the Toshiba Classic taught on Friday, it is that anybody can win and no lead is safe, with 20 players within five strokes of the lead.

Marsh, at age 62 and with seven years of Toshiba Classic experience under his belt, knows better than to feel comfortable after the first round, when he shot a 5-under 66.

“With a quality field out there, it’s going to be a birdie fest out there this weekend,” Marsh said. “That’s the nature of this golf course. The course has the ability to give up a 62 or 63. And when you’re back five strokes and you’re free-wheelin’ it, you have a chance for that.”

Experience told Marsh he needed to get out to a fast start and he did, with three birdies in the first five holes. It also told him, to find success he better stay out of the forecasted rain. And with a 9:16 a.m. tee time, he did just that.

“The earlier players are going to take advantage of this. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out,” Marsh said.

He was correct. Of the 15 players to tee off before 9 a.m., nine finished in the top-28. But the three other golfers in the top four each tasted a portion of what the rain did to the course.

The rain came down its hardest as Lietzke lined up a 4-foot birdie put on 18, attempting to go to 6-under. His opportunity for the lead washed away, wide to the right, and he settled for par on the hole and 5-under for the day.

It was the only down point in a bogey-free first round for the Texan.

“[The rain] was really bad on the 18th hole. I had a good chance for birdie,” Lietzke said. “I hope we don’t get more rain.”

Lietzke, in his fourth year on the Champions Tour and at the tournament, finished with a Tobisha Classic personal low round of 65.

Lietzke, who has always put family ahead of his career, said he is now comfortable devoting time to golf on the Champions Tour. With his children now in college, his wife can now travel to tournaments with him.

As a result, he said he is playing as much as he ever has in his career.

Alone in fourth place, Eichelberger had an opportunity to take the top spot when he started to get hot on the back nine. He birdied four holes in the final nine and three of the last four, but the 17th will haunt him.

Eichelberger missed the green on the 158-yard par 3. He chipped out of the rough, but rolled it 30 feet past the hole and finished with a double bogey.dpt.18-toshiba-CPhotoInfo7L1P3DUM20060318iuebthnc(LA)dpt.18-tosh-4-dl-CPhotoInfo7L1P3AI920060318iwb2tgknDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)Australia’s Graham Marsh hits his approach shot at the 18th hole during the first round of the Toshiba Senior Classic. Marsh is tied with Bruce Lietzke for second, behind Bob Eastwood.