Nicklaus Settles Down, Has a 71 : Senior golf: He is nervous in debut on 50-and-older tour.

In the first round of his first tournament on the Senior PGA Tour, Jack Nicklaus finished behind seven other golfers. But none of them are expected to finish the tournament ahead of him.

On a cold, breezy day, Nicklaus birdied three of the last six holes in shooting a 71, one under par, in The Tradition Friday over the Cochise course at Desert Mountain.

He trailed Phil Rodgers, Al Geiberger, Bruce Crampton and Mike Hill by two shots in the $800,000 tournament. At 70, a stroke behind the leaders, were Larry Ziegler, Rocky Thompson and George Archer.

Lee Trevino, who has dominated the Senior Tour this year with three victories in four events, double-bogeyed the third hole and finished with a 75, three over par on the 6,837-yard layout. It was his first round over par on the senior tour this year.

Arnold Palmer soared to a 78. Defending champion Don Bies shot a 74, and Gary Player tied Nicklaus with a 71, a score matched by nine others.

For a player who said he had misread putts on eight greens and had been apprehensive about his debut as a senior, Nicklaus played well.

“Once I settled down, I hit the ball much better than I did in the tournaments on the regular tour,” he said. “I still made some bad shots, but not as many.

“I got to thinking that I was starting out on the seniors with a new swing, a new putter and maybe that’s why I was apprehensive. I settled down on the back nine. I hit a fabulous drive on 15 (330 yards). I will go out and practice on a couple of things.

“I will be more relaxed tomorrow, so if I read the putts better, I should play pretty well.

“When a putt I read to break right on the eighth . . . went left, I couldn’t believe it. Frank Beard, playing with me, laughed. He said, ‘You built the course and you can’t read the putts.’ I told him, ‘I didn’t plan on playing it.’

“I’ve been using this graphite driver for about six weeks and I really liked the one on 15. It is one I’m testing. I was in Japan playing a TV match with Jumbo (Ozaki). He hit about three drives that were 90 yards farther than mine and several more at least 50. I asked him to please send me a couple. I like them.”

Until the better-known players started playing well on the back nine, Rodgers, an early starter, had the lead by himself with the first 69. Better known as a teacher than a player, Rodgers has a special reason for wanting to win. When Nicklaus made his debut on the regular tour in 1962 in the Los Angeles Open, Rodgers won the tournament.

“That is in my mind,” he said. “But I promise you, he’ll do better this time. He finished lowest among money winners in the tournament, getting $33.33. I made $7,500.”

For the last decade or so, Rodgers has helped Nicklaus, especially with his short game.

“Actually, what I did was stimulate his interest,” Rodgers said. “Gave him a couple of toys to play with. I also sent him to my physical instructor. As you can see, I wasn’t a good pupil. Jack is probably in the best shape of his life.”

Rodgers is heavy, especially around the middle.

“I don’t hit the ball as well as some of the others,” he said. “I have middle body leverage.

“I heard from Jack on his 40th birthday and spent quite a bit of time with him. But I didn’t hear from him on his 50th. Most of our talk now is through food. He sends me snow crabs and I send him abalone.”

The Tradition, which became a sellout at noon, limits its crowd to 15,000. The organizers sell only weekly tickets, for $50.

Because of Thursday’s rainout, the event was shortened to 54 holes. The ticket price didn’t change and nobody complained.

Larry Mowry was one of the few unhappy about the cancellation of the opening round. He had birdied three of the four holes he played before rain and hail wiped it out. Mowry soared to a 75 Friday, when there were a few drops of rain and some thunder in the distance.

Geiberger was happy about the rainout. On the first hole he had a three-shot turnabout. Before the rainout, he had hit his drive on No. 1 into the cactus on the right, an unplayable lie. In his second chance to play the hole, he hit an eight-iron to within a foot of the hole for an easy birdie.

“Love that rain,” he said to the crowd.