Purtzer rides 65 to first-round lead
Harris and Kite are in hot pursuit
CONCORD -- He always has had The Swing. What Tom Purtzer worries about now is The Ride. If he loses it, he wonders if his career will go along with it.
The Swing and The Ride coexisted nicely during yesterday's first round of the
Familiar names, many of them, but it was the return of a classic sight -- the Purtzer swing -- that stole the show on a gray, humid day.
"I enjoy this course. It's old-style, a fun course to play," said Purtzer, whose performance did nothing to make him like it less. That's because one of the Champions Tour's longest hitters used his power to push to the top of the leaderboard. He nearly drove the 298-yard, par-4 fourth, two-putted for birdie on three of the par 5s, and offset bogeys at Nos. 8 and 9 with a torrid back-side 31. In all, on a day in which Purtzer would record nine 3s on his scorecard, he hit 11 of 14 fairways, 15 of 18 greens, and needed 27 putts.
It matched the score he opened with a year ago (when he was a shot behind Bruce Fleisher and eventually finished joint fourth) and puts him in position to win for a third time on the Champions Tour, but Purtzer openly wonders how much longer this pro golf stuff will continue. Though he's only 52 and is in just his third Champions Tour season, a hip injury that first surfaced in 1991 -- one that has necessitated three surgeries -- continues to plague him.
Champions Tour officials -- with the approval of the players -- have decided to take away golf carts for the competitors, and Purtzer is perplexed.
"The hip was irritating me during my last years on the PGA Tour, but I told myself to hang in there till you're 50 when you'll be able to ride," he said. "I just don't agree with the decision. It's disappointing."
Disappointing, too, was the way his PGA Tour career unfolded at a time when things were going well. Back up to 1991 when "I had won two tournaments and felt like I should have won a third," said Purtzer. He was fourth on the money list with $750,568 and "I was feeling very comfortable."
Then he was uncomfortable. It was a twinge in his lower back, then he was in agony every time he walked. The hip was a major problem and his performance suffered greatly. Between 1992-2002, he was inside No. 93 on the money list just once, in 1996 when he was 53d. His last three seasons he was 242d, 170th, and 226th.
Though his swing was enviable, his health was not, and that's a tough reality to swallow.
So imagine his relief to enter the Champions Tour in 2002 and be afforded the chance to ride a cart. No wins, but he was 27th on the money list ($760,056). In 2003, he cracked through for his first win and hauled in $1,043,977 to rank 16th. He's already won once this year and is eighth in money, but for 2005, who knows? "I'm still struggling with walking," said Purtzer. "We'll see."
Other matters come first, like the rest of this tournament. Thirty-nine of the 78-player field posted red numbers as Nashawtuc's receptive, but true, greens were embraced by many.
The scoring assault started early (Thompson, the winner here in 1991, was in the fourth group) and went on throughout the day (Harris in the second-to-last group making birdie at the 18th to close out a bogey-free effort). And it was a parade of characters who give shape to what this Champions Tour is all about.
Whereas you have a major winner and ex-PGA Tour stalwart (Kite, author of a bogey-free round that featured birdies on three of the par 5s), you also have gentlemen like Thompson, 64, and McCullough, 59, who preach the virtues of a health supplement called "Ageless Xtra" and continue to show up week after week, thankful for the second chance that the Champions Tour has provided them after each missed out on the riches of the PGA Tour.
Consider Purtzer having a similar sentiment because after his sizzling finish put him into the lead, he said, "I've enjoyed my time out here. It gives you a second chance."
He's just hoping his second chance gets to ride on. Or at least walk without any pain.
