Marsh ‘feels’ way to Senior lead
LIGONIER – Graham Marsh isn’t resistant to change. Not even at 61 years of age.
Not even on the heels of a major championship.
Marsh tested some of those changes Thursday and, while it’s still early, has to like what he saw after firing a 4-under par 68 to take a one-stroke lead in the Senior PGA Championship at Laurel Valley Golf Club.
Four players fired 3-under par 69s, including four-time champion Hale Irwin, R.W. Eaks, Dave Barr and Tom McKnight.
Golf legend Arnold Palmer, playing 10 miles from his hometown and on a course he helped re-design, shot a 10-over par 82 and likely will play his last competitive round in the Senior PGA Championship today.
Marsh took control of what had been an up-and-down round with three consecutive birdies, starting on the par-5, 515-yard No. 18.
“I’ve never been scared to make changes,” Marsh said. “When things aren’t going well, you make changes. Sometimes you just don’t have a choice. You just can’t keep batting away with what you’ve got.”
Marsh began play Thursday with just one top-10 Champions Tour finish this season, a tie for ninth place at the FedEx Kinko’s Classic. He’s won six times on the Champions Tour, including the 1997 Senior Open, but hasn’t posted a victory since 1999.
After his birdie on No. 18 Thursday, Marsh dropped a 14-foot putt on the par-4, 390-yard No. 1. Then, after an 8-iron brought him to within six feet, he birdied the par-4, 387-yard No. 2.
Another long birdie, this one from 18 feet, pushed Marsh to 4-under after the par-3, 221-yard No. 8.
“I was getting very, very mechanical with my shoulders, trying to take the wrists out of my game,” Marsh said. “But that’s not the way I’ve putted. My touch has never been very good when I use a shoulder technique.
“My touch is a lot better when I just put a little bit of hand into my putting. I just feel the ball into the hole. And on these types of greens, when you get very, very fast greens, feel is absolutely everything. I went back to that old principal of just letting my hands do the work instead of letting my shoulders do the work. And it just paid off today.”
Thursday’s round marked the first time Marsh has finished a round in the 60s in 12 Senior PGA Tournaments. His previous best score was a 2-under-70, which he has done on six different occasions. Marsh’s previous best first-round score was a 1-under 71, which he registered three times.
A late charge put Irwin in good position heading into today’s second round. Irwin got to 1-under with a short birdie on the par-4, 375-yard No. 15, then sank a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 16.
After a par on the 183-yard No. 17, Irwin closed his round with a birdie after hitting his tee shot into the right rough on No. 18.
“It’s irritating because you have a par-5 that’s playing so short anyway and you hit it the rough and it negates any chance for a three,” Irwin said. “The score indicates a much better round than what I played. I really didn’t hit the ball that well. In fact, after five holes I was really kind of struggling.
“I didn’t hit my irons well, I drove the ball indifferently, and just made a little adjustment with my putting on the back nine and really started rolling the ball much better.
“Some of those putts that have been kind of wobbling up to the hole before suddenly were going right at the hole. I don’t want to get terribly excited because sometimes in this game just when you think you’ve got it, it’s got you.”
R.W. Eaks was sitting at 2-over through eight holes, but an eagle on No. 18 turned things around. Eaks then posted birdies on No.’s 1, 3, 4 and 6 to get to 4-under, but dropped a stroke when he bogeyed his final hole.
“The first eight holes, I couldn’t get the ball in the fairway,” Eaks said. “I hit some good shots from the rough, but not very many. I just happened to eagle No. 18. I hit a 6-iron in there to about 15 feet and it got me rolling.”
Seven players are two shots back, including Curtis Strange, who turned 50 in January and is playing in his first Senior PGA Championship, and former champion Raymond Floyd.