Lietzke Storms Into The Lead

By Kevin McManemin, USGA

Sunday’s strategy for leader Bruce Lietzke is to play one shot at a time. (Steve Gibbons/USGA)

Toledo, Ohio -- The assault began in mid-afternoon.

Inverness’s once formidable defenses fell quickly, as a hail of well-placed iron shots and perfectly-executed putts routed birdie after birdie from the helpless course.

By the seventh hole, Bruce Lietzke had tied Tom Watson to share the lead at the Senior Open. By the 14^th, Lietzke moved a stroke ahead.

As the battle raged on, Lietzke only got better.

With a birdie on the 18^th, Lietzke walked off the course with a 7-under 64 for the day. He heads into the last round of the Senior Open holding a four-shot lead over Tom Watson and Vincente Fernandez.

No one is more surprised by the microscopic score than Lietzke himself.

"I didn’t expect that anybody would go out and shoot a 63 or 64; I thought 1 under or 2 under would be a good round of golf today," said Lietzke.

One of only seven players to card an under-par round Saturday, Lietzke weathered the storm and stress of Inverness far better than anyone else. He birdied half the holes on the course, and played the back nine at 5 under.

Lietzke’s round rewrote all the old sports clichés. When he was hot, he was blisteringly hot. When he was cold, he was still pretty hot.

The blazing round grew incandescent from holes 13 through 15, with a string of birdies that rocketed Lietzke to the top of the field.

On the 13^th, Lietzke followed up a great drive with a superb iron shot that left him with a short putt for birdie.

Lietzke would get Saturday’s shot-of-the-day on the next hole. On the par-4 14^th, Lietzke hit the right rough off the tee. With his next shot he took his 6-iron and placed the ball 15 yards shy of the green and a good 30 away from the flagstick. With a miraculous chip-shot, Lietzke rolled it effortlessly into the hole.

The birdie parade continued on No. 15. After a great drive, he hit a blistering second shot to within 6 feet of the flagstick. He easily holed it to move to 6 under for the round.

Perhaps the most amazing part about Lietzke’s lightning round was that he played poorly off the tee, finding only seven fairways, three fewer than he hit in Friday’s round of 71.

"I haven’t driven the ball particularly well," said Lietzke.

So how did he carve a 64 out of the course that’s been eating up the rest of the field without consistently hitting the ball onto the fairways?

"It was just a round where the putter…worked brilliantly today," he said.

Indeed. The site of Lietzke on the greens, hunched over an oversized putter that at times seemed almost as big as he is, usually portended a quick trip for the ball straight into the hole. He needed only 25 putts to complete the round.

Lietzke would only bogey two holes for the round. On the 8^th hole, Lietzke tried a gutsy drive to the left side, trying to skirt the hole’s dogleg. The gambit failed and landed him in the rough. His troubles on the hole weren’t over. Lietzke’s third shot flew far past the green and into the crowd. He finished with a bogey.

His only other above-par hole of the round came on the par-4 fifth. Lietzke hit a poor drive that landed him in deep rough on the left side behind a grove of trees. He was forced to play it up, hitting it to the center of the fairway. The heartbreaking next shot bounced within feet of the flagstick but rolled straight off the front of the green. He took a bogey 5.

Lietzke has played in one previous Senior Open, finishing tied for 21^st place at the 2002 Senior Open at Caves Valley. But his ferocious performance Saturday should surprise nobody. Lietzke, 51, has scorched through the Champions Tour, with seven wins in three seasons on the circuit. This year Lietzke is second on the Champions Tour money list, behind only top-spot fixture Hale Irwin. He has one win (at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf) and seven top-10s already for 2003.

Today’s round of 64 tied five other players -- R.W. Eaks, Bruce Fleisher, Orville Moody, Jay Sigel and Vincente Fernandez – for the second-lowest round in U.S. Senior Open history (Fernandez shot his 64 Friday). Lietzke is now one of only four players below par for the week, and in great position to win it all.

Lietzke reported that he’s not the kind of golfer who concocts plans of attack when facing a golf course. Rather, he plays each shot as it’s given to him, plays each day as it comes and tries to play his best throughout. It’s a strategy he’ll stick with on Sunday.

"It was possible yesterday and obviously it was possible today to shoot a low score," said Lietzke. "That makes it possible [Sunday] to do the same thing."

Kevin McManemin is a writer for the USGA. E-mail him at kmcmanemin@usga.org with comments or questions.