Nickname And All, Stadler Ties Course Record

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Kettering, Ohio – The names atop of the leaderboard after Thursday's first round of the U.S. Senior Open resembled something you might find on a professional wrestling circuit.

"Walrus," "Boss of Moss," "Fleish" and a "Shark" lurked.

A missed putt on the backside put Loren Roberts in a moment of disbelief. (Steve Gibbons/USGA)

Then there was poor non-descript Tom Purtzer, sandwiched between Craig "The Walrus" Stadler (7-under 64) and Loren "Boss of Moss" Roberts (5-under 66). Purtzer quietly positioned himself near the top at 6-under 65. About the only thing he's been known for, flattering as it may be, is having been voted as having the best swing by players on the PGA Tour pre-Tiger Woods in the 1990s.

When asked if he had a cool moniker, Purtzer's mind went blank.

"It wouldn't be Walrus and it wouldn't be Boss of Moss, that's for sure," said Purtzer, who dropped in a 20-foot putt for eagle on his first hole. "I can't think of any."

How about eagle? Purtzer carded two to stand one stroke off Stadler's lead. Not to be undone by Purtzer, all Stadler did was card an eagle of his own and tie the competitive course record, which had been recorded during the 1969 PGA Championship by Don Bies and Miller Barber. That year the course was set up at 6,915 yards compared to the 7,000-yard, par-71 layout being used this week.

Still, a record is a record.

More impressive is that Stadler notched the feat while getting in just one practice round, on Wednesday, while hitting a handful of errant drives. It gave him incentive to concentrate harder, he said.

"You know, starting out today was wonderful," said Stadler, who also led after the first round of last year's Senior Open before finishing tied for seventh. "You go out wanting to shoot 64 or 63 or 65 every day. I don't think anybody expects to shoot 63 or 64 everyday. But it's certainly nice when it happens."

Stadler's antics tied the record for lowest sub-par round, held by Fleisher in 2000 and R.W. Eaks in 2002.

With Wednesday evening rain softening the course, 30 players shot under par, tying the previous mark fashioned on the Old Course at Saucon Valley Country Club (Bethlehem, Pa.) in 2000. Following Stadler were 2003 champion Bruce "Fleish" Fleisher at 4-under 67, and five at 3-under 68, which included the likes of Greg "The Shark" Norman and last week's Senior British champion Tom Watson. Defending champion Peter Jacobsen, trying to become the first champion to successfully defend since Gary Player, had been 2 under through 15 holes before finishing at 1 over.

Other than this flummoxed moment Thursday, Craig Stadler had few other reasons to be after tying the course record. (John Mummert/USGA)

Morning-round leaders Norman and Dick Mast entered the clubhouse at 3 under. That's before the moistened course started firming up from a baking sun, and before the top three end-of-day leaders chiseled out their scores.

Norman, who held the World Golf Ranking record for holding the top spot for 331 weeks, amassed 33 putts while missing just one fairway and one green amid a bogey-free round. He wouldn't blame sluggish greens for short birdie misses on the 15^th and 17^th holes.

"I didn't feel uncomfortable with my putter," he said. "I didn't feel like there's anything wrong with it. It's just a matter of speed, that's all it was."

In March Norman underwent microsurgery on his back to correct nerve decompression, a bone spur and a mild stress fracture. He had suffered from an achy back since the mid-1990s but finally blew it out at the Dubai Classic. Up until that point he had many rounds in which his knees would buckle from pain.

"I used to walk off the course absolutely hating it," said Norman. "I didn't want to come back because I was in so much pain; I couldn't play golf properly. That was indicative of my attitude and I hated being that way."

Irascible at times when poor swings result in poor results, Stadler had few of those Thursday. He made the turn 2 under before turning it on. Birdieing the first of back-to-back par 5s, Stadler rolled in a 25-footer that broke 2 feet right for eagle on No. 6. At the time, it put him at 6 under, one shot behind Purtzer.

But the two would flip-flop positions when they had varied results on No. 7. Stadler guided in a 6-footer for birdie on the hole while Purtzer, coming off his second eagle -- this one a 12-foot putt on No. 6 -- three-putted the next hole for bogey and fall out of the lead.

Meanwhile, Roberts went birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey to walk in at 5 under. Known as one of the better putters on the PGA Tours for years, Roberts sank critical putts when he needed to. He carded 27, one-putting nine times. He also missed one fairway, his last. He picked up the funny nickname after a 64 round at Oakmont in the 1990s.

"I've been told that you can't call putting greens moss, but superintendents don't like that," said Roberts, playing in his first Senior Open.

"I was disappointed to bogey the last hole from the middle of the fairway, but I'm off to a good start."

Fleisher put himself in contention by birdieing three of the four par 3s and all of the par 5s.

"I could have been better, could have been better. I let some get away, but I played pretty solid," said Fleisher.

Of course, Stadler et al realize one solid doesn't guarantee anything. Stadler registered 34 pars, one bogey and one birdie on his final 36 holes last year at Bellerive Country Club, to finish six strokes behind Jacobsen.

"Well, I'm not a believer or disbeliever in momentum," said Stadler. "I just it's just kind of a fact when you play well, you tend to feed off that at times."

Even if you're a Walrus, Shark or Moss Boss.

Ken Klavon is the USGA Web Editor. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.