Faldo makes big debut at Senior British
Gullane, Scotland - Nick Faldo is making the most of his Champions Tour debut.
The six-time major winner posted a three-under-par 68 on Thursday to share the opening-round lead of the Senior British Open Championship at Muirfield, the site of two of Faldo’s three British Open titles.
Gordon Brand Jr., Nick Job and Dave Stockton are tied with Faldo atop the leaderboard.
Scott Hoch, Sam Torrance, Morris Hatalsky, Bruce Heuchan, Lonnie Nielsen and reigning Senior PGA Champion Denis Watson share fifth place at two-under-par 69.
Faldo, who turned 50 on Wednesday, is playing only his third competitive round of the year. He teed it up at Carnoustie last week for the British Open Championship, but missed the cut. That made Thursday’s opening round all the more shocking to Faldo.
“I was very surprised,” acknowledged Faldo, the European Ryder Cup captain in 2008. “I was trying to do the best I could, trying to find a routine and I was able to do it. And that scared me. I didn’t know what to do.”
Faldo’s round started poorly when he hit his drive in the right rough and could not make par. He atoned for the error at one with three consecutive birdies from the third, all from inside five feet.
Faldo birdied the seventh and two-putted for a birdie from off the green at the par-five ninth. He parred four straight from the 10th, but made a mess of the 14th en route to a bogey.
At the 17th, Faldo drove into the right rough and could not reach the green with his second. He finally played his third to 25 feet and just missed the par save.
Faldo got into the group at minus-three with a spectacular approach at 18. His six-iron approach stopped three feet from the stick and Faldo converted the birdie try for his share of the first-round lead.
“Yeah, that was nice,” said Faldo, referring to his approach at the closing hole. “When I looked back at that second shot, I thought, well, you love looking back and saying ‘you hit five-iron from there, three-iron from there,’ so I went for the shot. I thought, ’squeeze one up close’ and I did. It was very pleasing.”
Faldo, who won his Opens at Muirfield in 1987 and 1992, is trying to get his golf game back in shape. He has played very little competitively as his time is spent in the booth for The Golf Channel and CBS.
“So then I’ve got to learn to deal with the different feelings playing this game, which I haven’t had in a long time,” admitted Faldo. “I played solid that back nine — it’s a little tougher. I made a mess of 17 and hit a great shot into the last. So I feel I squeezed out of the course and gave back what was about right, so that’s pretty good.”
Brand tallied three birdies in his first 10 holes. He dropped a shot at the 14th, but rebounded with a birdie at the par-five 17th to get his spot atop the leaderboard.
Job, a member of the European Seniors Tour, was only one-under par on his round thanks to a bogey at the 16th after four birdies and two bogeys. He birdied the final two holes for his 68.
Stockton, a two-time PGA Champion, flew out of the gate with four birdies in his first 10 holes. He had sole possession of the lead thanks to seven straight pars on the back, but bogeyed 18 to fall into a tie.
“My ball-striking was good at the U.S. Seniors Open, and the combination of knowing it was Muirfield and my game was coming back, well, I did come over with expectations of sticking around but I wasn’t expecting to see my name at the top of the leaderboard,” said Stockton.
Jay Haas, the leading money winner on the Champions Tour, opened with a one- under-par 70 on Thursday. Tom Watson, a two-time winner of this event, also shot a 70.
Brad Bryant, who defeated Watson to win the U.S. Senior Open, shot a one- over 72.
Defending champion Loren Roberts only managed a three-over-par 74.
