By Art Stricklin
Carmel, Ind. -- Two players with solid PGA Tour resumes but not necessarily much star power surged to the top of the leaderboard early Thursday in the opening round of the 30th U.S. Senior Open.
Joey Sindelar and Dan Forsman fired matching 66s to share the top spot with their more familiar co-leader, Greg Norman. In hot pursuit were Tom Lehman and Loren Roberts, who each fired 68s. Those two men also have more name recognition with the fans at Crooked Stick Golf Club.
It was rarefied air Sindelar and Forsman, who between them collected 12 PGA Tour titles, or eight fewer than Norman alone won in a Hall of Fame career.
“Are you kidding? Those legends need to be on the leaderboard,” said Sindelar, playing in his second U.S. Senior Open, when asked about how he felt to be among some of the stars of the game. “Those are the guys I grew up with playing with. They are my peers, but I’m a bit of a watcher myself. This is great.”
Forsman, playing in his first Senior Open, agreed that the company he was keeping after his first 18 holes was pretty special.
“That’s why we play, to rub shoulders with the greats of the game,” he said. “It’s exciting stuff. I think it will be for the weekend.”
It certainly was for Sindelar, who played under cool, cloudy skies among the first groups out Thursday.
Sindelar, who finished tied for tied for sixth last year at The Broadmoor’s East Course in Colorado Springs, Colo., came into this week still looking for his first win on the 50-and-older circuit, but he wasn’t sure what his game would be like because he was still battling a virus he contracted two weeks ago. It adversely affected his play last week at the Senior British Open, where he tied for 17th.
“The course played very accessible. There was no wind, the fairways were bouncing and the guys were certainly on offensive today,” said Sindelar, 51, of Horseheads, N.Y. “You are going to see a lot of low scores. It was a fun day.”
It’s easy to have fun when you shoot a bogey-free round. Sindelar birdied holes Nos. 2-4-6 to turn in three under, and on the inward nine he birdied both of the pars 5s, the 11th and 16th, along with the par-4 12th.
“I’m known for my 1-irons, and I couldn’t even hit a 1-iron at the British. I’m finally back and it was a bit like Superman today, finally able to hit my clubs,” Sindelar said. “I don’t mind sneaking around those guys toward the lead.”
Forsman, the other half of the undercover twosome, began play on No. 10, and he got off to a quick start with birdies on his first two holes. He also birdied the 15th and 17th before giving a shot back with his only bogey on the first hole. But Forsman, 50, of Provo, Utah, came back with birdies on holes four, five and six. He overcame a poor chip on the ninth for a par and a share of the lead.
“In a perfect world, people would be saying, ‘I know who Forsman is and I think he is going to win,’ but I’m happy with where I am right now,” Forsman said.
Art Stricklin is a freelance writer whose work has previously appeared on www.ussenioropen.com.
