Pooley Takes 3-Stroke Lead; 63 Round
Equals Open Record
By Ken Klavon, USGA
BALTIMORE, Md. – As he was leaving an interview session Saturday,
Don Pooley was intercepted by Tom Watson near the door.
Watson held out his right hand and jokingly said, “You didn’t
make any putts out there today, did you?”
Quite the opposite.
Parlaying nine birdies into a Senior Open record 8-under
63, and tying an Open mark for the lowest round ever, Pooley
catapulted to the lead with a 9-under 204 at the 7,005-yard
par 71 Caves Valley. He shaved four putts off the 29 he took
in the two previous rounds.
“You don’t go out and say, ‘I’m going to shoot a 63 today.’
Those rounds just kind of happen,” said Pooley, who led the
PGA Tour in putting statistically twice, in 1988 and 1997.
Watson and Walter Hall, who entered the third round leading
at 9 under, followed at 6-under 207. And, with a 3-under 68,
Ed Dougherty trailed at 5-under 208.
It was third straight day a new leader emerged. R.W. Eaks,
Hall and now Pooley have led after each individual round.
Watson has hovered near the top of the leaderboard every day,
shooting a 67, 71 and 69.
“Obviously, it depends on what Don does [Sunday] from the
beginning,” said Watson. He’ll be paired with Pooley. “And
obviously there are other players who are in our neighborhood
who can shoot that type of score.
“So I’ll be watching the leaderboard [Sunday] and I’m going
to try to hit every fairway, every green, try to get myself
in position.”
Pooley’s record round broke Eaks’ Senior Open and course
record of 7 under, set just two days ago. The mark also tied
Johnny Miller (1973), Jack Nicklaus (1980), Tom Weiskopf (1980)
and Helen Alfredsson for the lowest round in any kind of Open.
“Nobody said anything to me,” said Pooley. “I had no idea
what the Senior Open record was. … I’d rather not know that
stuff when I’m out there.”
With six birdies on the front nine, he made the turn with
a 31. The only bogey he took was on the second when he couldn’t
get up and down with a sand wedge. He missed a 15-footer.
The only glaring mistake over, he strung together four straight
birdies at the 7th, 8th, 9th
and 10th holes. Down the stretch he birdied the
16th and 17th, both par 4s. Perhaps
his most difficult test came on the finishing hole. After
sending his bunker approach 15 feet past the flagstick, he
stared down a 15-footer. This wasn’t for birdie, though. This
was for a save-par.
The ball broke 2 feet left and entered the hole from the
side.
“I really wasn’t expecting to make that putt,” said Pooley.
“When that went in, I was a little surprise.
Duplicating such an amazing round, or even coming close to
it, isn’t necessarily impossible, but it isn’t easy. Eaks
had followed up his record-setting round with a 2-over 73.
However, Pooley did chase a 61 with a 66 at the 1986 Phoenix
Open. His last victory, which includes the Senior Tour, came
in 1987 at The Memorial, one of two victories on the PGA Tour.
Leading after three rounds isn’t familiar territory to Pooley,
yet it isn’t totally foreign either. In five events he has
led or co-led after three rounds, he has won one of them,
the 1980 B.C. Open.
“I’m going to be nervous, like you always are when you’re
in the lead or fighting for a championship,” said Pooley,
who never won a junior, amateur or college event.
Watson, four groups ahead of Pooley, remedied putter struggles
for the short time by birdieing the first three holes. All
of a sudden he was 7 under for the championship.
Out of the gate, Hall answered with three straight birdies
of his own to move to 10 under.
By the 7th hole, the scoreboard read Hall 10 under,
Pooley and Watson 7 under. Moments later Hall couldn’t steer
in a 15-footer and made his first bogey. He started leaking
oil, bogeying four of his final 10 holes.
“I didn’t even look at the leaderboard until I got to No.
9,” said Hall. “And, at that point, when I saw where Don Pooley
was about 7 under, [I] though that was fantastic.”
Meanwhile, Watson hit a wall with the putter again on the
12th and 17th holes, where he picked
up bogeys. He three-putted No. 17.
“I wasn’t thinking too much of the line of speed,” said Watson.
“I was thinking about the stroke. What happens when you do
that is you lose your feel.”
Ken Klavon is the USGA Web Editor. E-mail him at kklavon@usga.org.
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