Jackson Sets Record
7:11 p.m. - Tim Jackson didn't know it at the time, but as he headed out of the scoring area someone mentioned he registered the lowest round by an amateur in a Senior Open. He admitted to having butterflies when he began his round on the 10th hole.
Then he relied on his putter.
"I just had good yardages and I was leaving the ball perfect on the green," he said, followingthe round that featured six birdies and 12 pars.
Jackson shot a 31 on his second nine, one shot off the nine-hole mark that has been done 15 times. Four players held the low round for an amateur at 68: William C. Campbell, Ed Tutwiler, Jim Patti and Rich Cloninger.
Amateur Jackson Gets To Top
7:01 p.m. - Tim Jackson had one of the more memorable rounds for an amateur. He got as hot as the sun on his back nine, birdieing fives holes to tie Dan Forsman, Greg Norman and Joey Sindelar for the first-round lead at 6-under 66.
Bean Closes Out With 67
6:25 p.m. - Seven people that includes caddies, players searched for Andy Bean's ballin the greenside rough on the ninth hole. They never located it, forcing Bean to take a drop and loss of stroke. When he couldn't convert his 12-foot putt, he ended his round with a 5-under 67.
Tim Jackson jumped into a share of the lead with a birdie on No. 7, his 16th of the round. Scott Hoch and Scott Simpson both birdied the par-5 15th to fall to five under.
Jackson Gets Hot
6:04 p.m. -Amateur Tim Jackson has birdied his last five holes to get to five under, one shot off the lead. He has played in more than 35 USGA championships. In the meantime, Scott Hoch has made his presence felt, shooting four under through 14 holes.
Simpson, Jackson Make Moves
5:44 p.m. - Scott Simpson, who won the 1987 U.S. Open, moved into contention by birdieing four of seven holes to get to four under. Simpson suffered a broken wrist earlier this year after being involved in a head-on collision in a car accident.
Tim Jackson birdied his 11th, 12th and 13th holes to also fall to four under. The long-time amateur, appearing in his first U.S. Senior Open, has long ties to the USGA, winning the 1994 and 2001 U.S. Mid-Amateur.
Four-Way Tie Again
5:33 p.m. - As soon as he took the lead, Andy Bean couldn't hold it. He bogeyed the par-4 seventh, his first bogey of the round.
Bean A Birdie Machine
5:17 p.m. - Andy Bean carded another birdie to grab the overall lead. He's now one-shot ahead, at seven under, of Dan Forsman, Greg Norman and Joey Sindelar.
Bean Catches Leaders
5 p.m. - Andy Bean forced a four-way tie with a birdie on the par-5 14th.
Funk Misses Birdie
4:45 p.m. - Fred Funk had a chance to drop to four under, but couldn't do so after he pulled his 20-foot birdie putt on No. 12. In the afternoon wave, Andy Bean has been holding steady at five under through 13. It should be said that greens are firming up.
An interesting note: There are 35 sub-par rounds thus far. The record is 30 in a U.S. Senior Open. Something we'll keep our eyes on.
They Love Watson
4:20 p.m. - There has been no shortage of support for Tom Watson. He's been greeted by standing ovations throughout the round. Watson also brought the fans to their feet with a near chip-in from behind the eight green, settling for a tap-in par.
During a break in Thursday's play, Watson took time to chat with a pair of USGA officials assigned to his group. "I hear you have to have make 92 on those rules quizzes," he said sitting on a bench on the ninth tee box. "I don't know if I could do that. That's a tough test."
Bean Making A Splash
4:17 - Andy Bean is poking his nose in at the top after dropping in a 9-foot birdie putt on the par-4 second hole. No stranger to Senior Opens, Bean contended last year at The Broadmoor, tying for 14th and in 2006 at Prairie Dunes when he tied for fifth.
Harris Creeps Onto Board
4:07 p.m. - John Harris, who won the 1983 U.S. Amateur at age 41, birdied three consecutive holes to get to three under through six holes. Harris is playing in his eighth Senior Open, getting in this year via sectional qualifying.
Kite Chips In, Bean Birdies Again
3:56 p.m. - Tom Kite chipped in off the front of the 16th green to get below par. Seventy-five feet from the hole, Kite watched the ball hop on and slowly roll in. He held both arms up when the ball disappeared. While that was happening, Andy Bean drained a mid-range putt on the the 18th hole, his ninth, to make the turn four under par.
Bean Climbing Board
3:29 p.m. - On the par-3 eighth, Andy Bean had a chance to get to four under par, but his 8-foot putt broke right at the last instance. He took par.
Forsman Happy
2:16 p.m. - Seems to be a recurring theme from the morning-round leaders. The course is definitely receptive for scoring. The lastest to confirm it was Dan Forsman, wedged in a three-way tie with Greg Norman and Joey Sindelar at 6-under 66 on the par-72 design.
"Overall, I'm thrilled to be in the mix," said Forsman, with one bogey on the day. "If you're going to go low, today is the day. The greens are receptive; there's little wind."
Forsman Wedges Way Into Lead
2:03 p.m. - Dan Forsman, tied at six under, entering the ninth hole, his final one of his round, had the chance to take the outright lead. Forsman shot a 66 in his first Senior Open. He was looking at a birdie opportunity until mis-hitting a chip. He didn't get under the ball enough and it scooted just a few feet. He wound up knocking in a 2-footer to save par.
Norman Bogeys 18th Hole
1:41 p.m. - Up a stroke heading into the 18th hole, Greg Norman could not maintain the lead. He found a left greenside bunker and couldn't get up and down. He needed to convert a right-to-left breaking putt from about 8 feet for bogey.
As it stands, Norman and Sindelar hold the early advantage at 6-under 66. Sindelar talked at length about how perfect the course is for scoring. The greens are soft, which helps out the short game. "You can get out on the offensive when the greens are soft," said Sindelar, cognizant of all the top-echelon names on the leaderboard.
One of those, of course, is Norman who took just 25 putts. Norman admitted that he was trying to be aggressive. That aggressiveness cost him on the 18th hole.
"I kind of look for the flags, yes I do. Chrissy [Evert, his wife] said that sometimes it might be nice if you had a bit of a conservative approach," said Norman chuckling.
Norman didn't care for his putting stroke at the Senior British Open, deciding to work on rhythm the past couple of days. He said it also helped him read the greens well today.
Brad Bryant closed out with a birdie on the ninth hole.
"When the great players play on a great course and shoot well ... it's exciting," said Bryant.
Others Coming In Low
1:27 p.m. - No question it's a scorer's day, much like a hungry dog finding itself on a meat truck. Joey Sindelar, after carding a 6-under 66, said the key was there was little wind.
"The long-hitters will love it out there today," he said.
Brad Bryant (2007 Senior Open champion), Tom Lehman, Loren Robertswere two strokes off the pace, registering 4-under 68s. Lehman drained a 27-foot eagle putt on the hole. He started on No. 10.
"I was quite frustrated walking down the [ninth] fairway thinking I gave away a lot of shots," said Lehman. "
Sindelar Turns In 66
1:14 p.m. - Joey Sindelar capped off a magnificent round with an 8-footer for par on the 18th hole to enter the clubhouse with the early lead.
Norman Catches Sindelar
12:55 p.m. - Moments after Joey Sindelar birdied No. 15, Greg Norman followed suit on the same hole. After playing the front nine four under, Norman has continued bettering his score. On Wednesday, he thought the back nine on the Pete Dye design would prove tough.
"The back nine greens, they're probably a little more tricky than the front nine greens," said Norman. "[Dye] kind of lays them out there fairly benign for the first nine holes, even the 10th hole, then all of a sudden things start to change for you."
Sindelar Moves To Six Under
12:39 p.m. - Joey Sindelar broke away from Greg Norman, sinking a birdie putt par-5 15th to drop to six under par. The 1981 Ohio State Athlete of the Year joined the PGA Tour in 1984 before joining the seniors last year. He won seven times on the regular tour.
Neck And Neck
12:02 p.m. - Surely it's too early to call this a dead heat, but Greg Norman and Joey Sindelar have both dropped to five under. Two-time Senior Open champion Allen Doyle crept up the leaderboardwith a birdie on his 11th hole, No. 2.
Coming off a T-18th in last year's Senior Open, Jeff Sluman entered the 3-under mix with a birdie on No. 14. Five others are also tied at three under.
Two In Lead
11:24 a.m. - Joey Sindelar, with six top-10 finishes on the Champions Tour this year, caught Greg Norman on the par-5 11th hole. He carded birdie to drop to four under par.
Norman Still One Stroke Up
11:13 a.m. - Greg Norman registered a 4-under 32 through his first nine holes on the par-72 course. He entered the back nine with a one-stroke lead on Jerry Courville, Dan Forsman, Loren Roberts and Joey Sindelar.
Courville Makes Turn
10:39 a.m. -Jerry Courville was the first of the leaders to make the turn. He shot 3-under 33 before promptly bogeying the 10th hole. Greg Norman maintained a one-stroke lead over Dan Forsman and Joey Sindelar, both of whom were three under.
Short-Lived Tie
10:03 a.m. - While Joey Sindelar thought he had caught Greg Normanat the top, it wan't so, or at least short-lived. That's because Norman birdied the long par-5 fifth, set up at 600 yards. Norman is four under, followed by Sindelar and five players tied at two under.
Withdrawal
9:48 a.m. - Jim Sobb has withdrawn due to a lower back injury. He qualified at Mequon, Wis. The first alternate from Mequon, Kevin Marion, will take his place.
Course Setup
9:41 a.m. -This just came in via a USGA official:
Green Speeds – approximately 12 feet on the stimpmeter. All greens were double cut this morning after which Stimpmeter readings were taken. Any green that was below 11’6” was rolled.
All grass inside the ropes is being cut daily with the exception of the 3 ½-inch rough, which is being cut every other day. Morning preparation calls for tees, putting greens, fairways and the intermediate rough (1 ½ inches) to be cut. The 2 ½- and 3 ½-inche rough will be cut in the evenings. All bunker faces/banks were cut to 2 ½ incheslast night.
Corrective watering was done this morning to all putting greens that required such.
The following tees are being used on the holes with multiple teeing grounds: Hole 5 (574), Hole 9 (530), Hole 12 (419), Hole 14 (480) and Hole 18 (422)
Par 3s
Hole 3 – 163
Hole 6 – 201
Hole 13 – 161
Hole 17 – 200
The following is a summary of the weather for the day from our Thor-Guard meteorologist, Greg Quinn:
The atmosphere has significantly dried out compared to yesterday and this will be the case through at least the first half of the day. Most of the rain will be confined to southern Indiana through much of the day until the afternoon and evening hours when a cold front will approach our area providing a chance for showers and thunderstorms. The overall pattern for the day appears to be split, with most of the rain chances staying to our south along a frontal boundary there and to our north where the instability this afternoon will be greatest along the next front. Look for winds to be light and variable this morning, turning from the south by mid-morning, and then becoming breezy and from the southwest this afternoon. Temperatures should mainly be in the upper 70s to low 80s with increasing clouds.
Norman Bolts To Top
9:36 a.m. - Seems that the place to be isat the top. Greg Norman rode the crest of three consecutrive birdies to grab the early lead at three under par.Two fourth-place finishes in two starts at the Senior Open has Norman motivated to do better this week.
Lehman, Sindelar Also Begin Strong
9:18 a.m. -Joey Sindelar, who tied for sixth last year, birdied two of his first holes to ascend to the top of the leaderboard. In his first Senior Open, Tom Lehman birdied the 11th and 12th holes to go to two under. Jerry Courville suffered a bogey on the par-5 fifth.
Courville, Fleisher, Hammond, Roberts, Off To Strong Starts
9:01 a.m. - Jerry Courville, winner of the 1995 U.S. Mid-Amateur, 2001 Senior Open champion Bruce Fleisher, Donnie Hammond,and Loren Roberts birdied their first two holes on the 7,316-yard layout.
In four Senior Open starts Roberts, coming off a Senior British Open victory last week, has three top-five finishes.
Here We Go
8:44 a.m. - Carmel, Ind. - Good morning. We'll be supplying running updates as the championship unfolds. We'll also add interesting nuggets and information. If you have any comments or concerns, feel free to e-mail Ken Klavon, Editor of New Media at kklavon@usga.org.
