Fernandez catches fire

Bryce Alderton

NEWPORT BEACH -- What better way to take the task of putting away

than to hole your approach shot after hitting into a greenside bunker

on an adjacent hole?

Well, Vicente Fernandez scrambled, but still birdied the 416-yard

par-4 10th in roaring fashion.

Fernandez drove right and into the greenside bunker of the par-4

sixth hole off the 10th tee. He punched his second shot between two

trees and left himself about 80 yards from the green.

Then cheers crackled through the cool late-morning air after

Fernandez’s third shot found the bottom of the cup.

Fernandez walked briskly, enthusiastically pumping his right arm

in celebration.

“That’s the best thing that’s happened [Friday],” said volunteer

John Hoyt. “He almost did cartwheels.”

Fernandez birdied three of the first four holes on the back nine

and finished that side at 4-under 32. He joined seven golfers who

shot 3-under 68, three shots back of leader Gil Morgan, whom

Fernandez played with Friday.

* Morgan’s 65 marked the 16th time he has fired a round in the 60s

at Newport Beach Country Club in 22 starts.

It was also his best opening round in the tournament and was one

stroke shy of his all-time low here, a 64 in 2001.

Of the 28 previous times Morgan has held at least a tie for the

lead after the first round in his career, he has finished in the top

10 in 26 tournaments, including nine wins.

* J.C. Snead holds a one-stroke advantage over Bruce Summerhays

and Dave Eichelberger in the season’s inaugural Georgia-Pacific Grand

Champions competition, for golfers 60 and older.

Snead finished at 4-under 67 while Summerhays and Eichelberger

each shot 68. The winner of the 36-hole competition will receive

$30,000.

* Wayne Levi’s 5-under 66, good for a tie for second place after

one round, gave him nine straight sub-par rounds in the tournament in

10 starts and equals his best round at Newport Beach Country Club. He

has shot 66 two other times.

* Mark Lye withdrew from the tournament to celebrate the birth of

his son. Wife Lisa gave birth to a boy, Lucas Lye.

* Friday welcomed the dawn of a new era, if you will, for the

tournament.

Players were not given the option of taking carts, per a PGA

Champions Tour policy that bans carts during three rounds of

competition at all but a select few events beginning this season.

Keith Fergus, who sits two shots out of the lead after a

first-round 67, played relaxed.

“I like to know everyone is walking,” Fergus said. “I didn’t feel

rushed.”

Morgan offered a contrast.

“I’m not a big proponent of getting rid of carts, but it isn’t a

big deal for me,” he said.

Morris Hatalsky was among eight players to shoot 67 Friday.

“It’s a different atmosphere. It presents a different

perspective,” Hatalsky said . “It’s a good thing.”

* The perilous green on the par-4 seventh didn’t sit well with

Morgan, even though he birdied the hole.

He suggested rebuilding the green during his post-round press

conference.

“You can’t put pins in certain places and the ball can roll off

the green,” Morgan said.

The green slopes severely from back to front and played just above

par (4.013) during Friday’s first round. The hole yielded nine

birdies and 57 pars.

Nos. 18 and 3, both par 5s, tied for the easiest holes.

* The fourth floor of the Sue and Bill Gross Women’s Pavilion at

Hoag Hospital will be named for the Toshiba Senior Classic.

Tournament co-chairman Hank Adler made the announcement and

presented Toshiba America Inc., Chairman Hideo Ito with a doctor’s

white coat bearing the tournament logo at the Classic Pro-Am awards

party Thursday night.

The pavilion is scheduled to open in October, with 41 private

patient rooms residing on the fourth floor.