60!

Bryce Alderton

Last week Tom Purtzer was struggling with his driver, so he called on

one of the best.

A conversation with renowned golf teaching pro Butch Harmon,

coupled with an increased focus in his short game and voila -- an

11-under-par 60 that set a tournament record and gave Purtzer a

four-shot lead after Friday’s first round of the 10th Toshiba Senior

Classic at Newport Beach Country Club.

Purtzer’s score broke Hale Irwin’s prior 18-hole tournament record

by two strokes and equaled the lowest round ever recorded on the

Champions Tour. His round featured nine birdies and an eagle -- on

the 492-yard par-5 15th -- en route to a 7-under 29 on the back nine

and also eclipsed his career-best round by two strokes.

*--*

Tom Purtzer...60

Joe Inman...64

Morris Hatalsky...65

Fuzzy Zoeller...66

David Eger...66

John Bland...66

Keith Fergus...66

John Jacobs...67

Leonard Thompson...67

Bob Eastwood...67

Lonnie Nielsen...67

*--*

The talk with Harmon apparently worked as Purtzer, who led the

tour in driving distance (296.1 yards) heading into the tournament,

but was able to straighten out his drives on Friday. He hit 10 of 14

fairways.

“I asked Butch why I was hitting my drives so bad last week and he

talked me through my swing,” Purtzer said. “When your swing is in

good shape, it allows you to go at pins.”

Purtzer averaged 281 yards on his drives in the first round,

including a 304-yard blast on the 416-yard par-4 10th, a hole he

birdied.

“The driver sets up my game more than anything else,” said

Purtzer, who was 4-under on the three par-5s.

The booming drives set up favorable approach shots and Purtzer

knew what to do from there.

The 52-year-old Green Valley, Ariz., resident hit 17 of 18 greens

in regulation, leaving himself no more than 20 feet on any putt. He

had 11 one-putts and didn’t three-putt. Coming into the tournament,

Purtzer ranked second on the senior tour with 76% of greens hit in

regulation.

“Lots of things went my way today,” said Purtzer, who had surgery

on his left hip in November and began working with Harmon, who

counsels several pros including Tiger Woods, on both his wedge game

and tee shots soon after. “I made some putts I normally wouldn’t

make. I have been working really hard on putting. I just let it roll

and it felt good.”

A 15-footer at the par-4 14th sent Purtzer to 7-under and began a

stretch where he tallied three birdies and an eagle over the final

five holes.

“The best putt I made was at 14,” Purtzer said.

A 298-yard tee shot on the par-5 18th left Purtzer with 198 yards

to the front of the green for his second shot and a chance at

two-putting for a 59.

Purtzer took a 3-iron, but the shot sailed left into the greenside

bunker.

“I almost hit a 5-wood, but felt I could get to the front of the

green,” Purtzer said. “I pulled it hard.

“If I could have gotten home in two, I get I had a shot at 59,”

said Purtzer, who was unaware of Irwin’s prior course record.

Purtzer’s shot from the sand left him six and he rolled in the

ensuing birdie putt.

“I was trying to make [the sand shot],” Purtzer said. “I didn’t

think it would break too much coming off the hill.” Purtzer, a

five-time winner on the PGA Tour, has finished in the top 10 in three

of five events so far this season despite battling a bad back. He

said he may need to ride in a cart if the pain becomes too severe.

A change in attitude, along with a dedication to his short game,

has Purtzer feeling renewed.

“I’ve been hitting lots of wedges. Up until this year, I was

better hitting a 7-iron than a wedge,” Purtzer said. “I have never

been a good wedge player or putter. After awhile, missing five- and

six-footers takes its toll.

“I wasn’t expecting too much. I’ve had trouble driving the ball,

so that is what I expected not to have,” Purtzer said. “You have got

to drive it in the fairway here.”

Purtzer’s 67 in the final-round two years ago was his

previous-best score at the Toshiba on a course he didn’t think suited

his game heading into the tournament.

“It never has before,” Purtzer said. “[Hitting several] wedges

helped a lot.”

Joe Inman shot a 64 and sits four strokes behind Purtzer while

Morris Hatalsky is five back after his 65 heading into today’s second

round. Both think they have a shot at the first-round leader.

“What Tom did is the round of a lifetime,” Hatalsky said. “But

seeing that, some of the other guys might think they could do what

Tom did. You never know what can happen on Saturday and Sunday.”