|
 |
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Going for broke Qualifier Johnson leads State Farm Classic
Updated: Friday July 27, 2001 7:04 PM
HUNT VALLEY, Md. (AP) -- Two more days of golf like this, and Doug Johnson will find himself with some unexpected free time on Mondays this summer. Johnson, a perennial qualifier, played bogey-free golf until the final hole and shot a 6-under-par 66 Friday to take the first-round lead in the State Farm Senior Classic. Johnson is winless as a professional since quitting college in 1972 to pursue a career on the PGA Tour. He has qualified to play in only five senior tournaments this season -- including this one -- and ranks 87th on the money list. But the 50-year-old Wisconsin native was better than anyone on the Hayfields Country Club course Friday, finishing one stroke ahead of Jim Thorpe. George Burns and Jose Maria Canizares were two shots back, and Bob Gilder, Bobby Cole and Jim Holtgrieve shot 69s. If he maintains the lead through Sunday's final round, Johnson will earn one year of exempt status and will no longer have to spend his Mondays trying to gain entry to the tournament of the week. "There have been 20 tournaments this year, and we've gone 20 times trying to qualify," he said. "I'm praying and hoping to get a card, otherwise I'll be Monday qualifying until I'm 60 or 65, or until they take my spikes away." Johnson had four birdies on the front nine, then added three more birdies before running into trouble on the par-5 18th hole. After his drive landed in the rough, he pitched into the rough before sending his approach far left of the hole and into the rough. "It was a fun day all the way up to the 18th hole," he said. "I was lucky to get a 6 there; I had three unplayable lies." The final hole did little to deter a memorable day for Johnson, whose best career finish is a tie for sixth in the 1980 B.C. Open. Johnson was working at a marina and attending Wisconsin-Oshkosh when he got the chance to attend the 1972 Greater Milwaukee Open as a marshal. After the tournament, he promptly told his parents he was dropping everything to hit the tour -- even though he was shooting in the 90s at the time. "My father played with the Milwaukee Braves, and he quit after one game. I didn't want to be 40 years old and say, `I could have done something,'" Johnson said. After parring the first two holes, Johnson sank a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 3 and parred the next hole. "Then I got on a roll," he said, referring to a run of three straight birdies that enabled him to climb to the top of the leaderboard. Thorpe also recorded four birdies on the front nine. He then bogeyed 10, but rebounded with a 50-foot birdie putt on 13 and birdied 17 with help from what he called "a perfect little wedge." "I don't feel like I played my best today," Thorpe said, "but at least I can tee off tomorrow and play the golf course without having to worry about making up four or five shots on the leader." Burns, 83rd on the money list, had six birdies and two bogeys. "This is a great round for me. I hope I can feed off this tomorrow," he said. "Unfortunately, there's no consistency to my game. I pitched well, putted well, then had moments of badness."
Bruce Fleisher, the leading money-winner on the tour, stayed in
contention with a 71, and Tom Kite had a 72. Defending champion
Leonard Thompson had a 40 on the back nine and finished with a 78.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
