Player’s age no match
for his game

There's something about Hawaii that brings out the best in Gary Player.

One of the brighter moments during yesterday's $1.6 million Turtle Bay Championship was watching Player match his age with a 3-under 69.

This was the fourth time in his career he has shot his age and the first since his final-round 68 at last year's MasterCard Championship. Player also shot his age at the 2002 MasterCard.

"It was a real thrill," said Player, who needed to make a 10-foot birdie putt at the 18th to accomplish the feat. The nine-time major winner on the PGA Tour will be 70 in November.

"Any time you get this age, nearly seven-oh, and equal your age, it's nice," the South African said. "It gets a little easier the older you get. But this is a pretty long golf course for me. I must say I was getting a little frustrated because I wanted to do it.

"I had four holes in a row where I really hit beautiful irons shots, but I missed all the putts. And then at 18, I holed that one, which was nice. It was a great way to finish."

A tip from Lee Trevino on how to putt this type of slower green may have helped Player. Trevino told him, instead of bringing the putter straight back, take it on an inside plane because it helps with the speed to hit the ball on the outside part of the putter coming through. It seemed to help, as Player managed five birdies for the round.

"You're always changing out here because change is the price of survival," Player said. "I remember (Ben) Hogan saying your eyes change every day, your feel changes. But I played with Allen Doyle (who shared the first-round lead) today and he really played beautiful golf. I tried to feed off of him."

Fergus takes strange route: Texan Keith Fergus is one of four golfers sharing the first-round lead with a 5-under 67, the most for this tournament. But while fellow leaders Doyle, Hale Irwin and Gil Morgan took regular routes in their rounds, Fergus' card looked like something you'd find at goony golf.

"For such a wild and exciting front nine, I started off pretty boring with two straight pars," Fergus said.

But that's when the fun started. Over the next seven holes to close out the frontside, Fergus had an eagle 3, a double-bogey 5, a birdie 3, a birdie 3, a bogey 5, a birdie 2 and a bogey 6.

"That's when I settled down and made a par," Fergus deadpanned. "There was plenty of action on that frontside. But being the first tournament of the year, you have a little more patience with yourself. I made the eagle and then hit a bad shot on probably the easiest hole (No. 4) out here. The key is, you still stay positive."

Fergus wound up shooting 4-under 32 on the back. For the day, he had one eagle, seven birdies, seven pars, two bogeys and one double bogey.

"Not your routine day at the office," Fergus said. "But I'm still pleased with my round."

Inside the numbers: The scoring average for yesterday's opening round was 71.885, which was considerably lower than the opening-round average in 2003. That year, the 78 seniors toured the par-72 course at 74.704. A total of 21 players had rounds in the 60s yesterday and 45 of the 78 shot under par.

The most difficult hole on the course was the par-4 10th with a scoring average of 4.256. There were only five birdies, 51 pars, 19 bogeys and three double bogeys. The par-5 third was the easiest with a scoring average of 4.538. There were three eagles, 36 birdies, 33 pars and six bogeys.

Dana Quigley kept his iron man streak alive. He has now started 264 consecutive tournaments for which he was eligible and managed his 250th straight start overall. His four-under 68 yesterday was his fourth round in the 60s since the start of the Champions Tour last week at the MasterCard Championship.