Barr, Haas Set Pace, Take Lead

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Hutchinson, Kan. – Jay Haas didn't feel sharp Thursday in the first round of the Senior Open at Prairie Dunes Country Club.

With a share of the lead at 3-under-par 67, the rest of the field should take notice just in case Haas does heat up. Dave Barr, using his last exemption to play in the championship, shot an identical 3 under, while diminutive Massy Kuramoto scrambled to a 2-under 68. Winner of the 2003 championship, Bruce Lietzke, an honorary member at Prairie Dunes, registered a 1-under 69. Defending champion Allen Doyle had an afternoon tee time, but found himself 3 under through seven holes.

"The U.S. Open, a 2006 U.S. Senior Open kind of golf course, is not my strength," said Lietzke,

Bruce Lietzke, the 2003 champion, follows through on his drive on the 13th hole. (John Mummert/USGA)

feeling fortunate with his score because of the 32 putts he took. "I never have liked feeling pinned in, and that's how you feel on this golf course."

Haas, a perennial favorite, won the Senior PGA Championship earlier this year in a playoff. In the early going Thursday, he took what the tight 6,646-yard, par-70 layout gave him.

He opened with four straight pars before coming to a crossroads on the par-4 fifth that, in his own estimation, could have broken his round. He hit a cut shot into the rough that the wind grabbed, then was left with a lazy chip short of the green that rolled 8 feet by the hole.

Staring at a potential double bogey, Haas sank the putt that kept him afloat at 1 over par. The "double there would have been not good on my psyche, I guess," said Haas.

If anything, it got him going as he birdied his next three holes. He held steady at 2 under until the par-5 17^th, maybe the most contoured green on the course. With 235 yards to the hole, after a strong drive, he knocked a 5-wood to 15 feet for an eagle chance.

As he was walking up, he thought he might have an easy birdie but knowing "that green is hard to hit with a sand wedge."

Instead he saw the remnants of designer Perry Maxwell's touch. The putt had about 15 feet of break to it. Fortunately he knocked it to 1 foot and tapped in for his fifth birdie.

"If I would have missed the left low, it would have gone down probably 15 feet below the hole," said Haas. "And if I would have gone the other way, it would have missed 10 feet to the right."

Haas, coming off a third-place finish two years ago, is hoping his third Senior Open is a charm. The win at the Senior PGA Championship rewarded him with confidence.

"I guess just knowing that I could do it down the stretch," said Haas, who never three-putted Thursday. "That's building my confidence and has been a big boost for me."

Massy Kuramoto, playing in his first Senior Open, posted a solid 2-under round Thursday. (John Mummert/USGA)

Speaking of self-assurance, Barr settled into a comfort zone with a side-winding birdie from 20 feet on the par-3 uphill 10^th hole, his first of the round. Three holes later, he struck again with the second of his four birdies. He angled in a 30-footer and had an opening nine score of 3-under 32.

Accuracy off the tee carried him as he missed just two fairways. The first one, on the par-4 fifth that features an excessively rolling fairway, led to his first bogey when he couldn't get up and down. He walked in going birdie-par-par.

For Barr, 54, this is a make-or-break year. His exemption out of sectional qualifying runs out unless he can place in the top 25 scores. He earned the exemption based on his Royal Caribbean Classic victory in 2003, his only win on the Champions Tour.

"Just patience, really," he said when asked what the key is to solving Prairie Dunes. "I'm not trying to get overconfident. Just the old cliché – fairways and greens, fairways and greens."

Kuramoto, who stands 5'5 and is from Hiroshima, Japan, got into the mix by relying on his strengths. Inconsistent off the tee, he hit driver four times. His first three birdie putts, all on his front nine, ranged from 15 to 30 feet. The putter wasn't an issue, though. He struggled finding greens, registering eight of them. He wrapped up his round with a thorny up and down. He went right-to-left out of the first fairway cut and into a greenside bunker. A firm flop shot stopped 4 feet above the hole and he converted.

On Wednesday, he walked off the course during his practice round after 11 holes because the wind changed direction. He didn't feel comfortable and felt it might have confused his thought process.

"All the holes just try to play par-par-par. Thinking one shot at a time," said Kuramoto, playing in his first Senior Open.

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