Bean in Champions lead
BLAINE, Minn. (AP) – Andy Bean birdied three of his final four holes Friday for a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead over six players after the first round of the Champions Tour’s 3M Championship. Bean, winless in four seasons on the 50-and-over tour, had six birdies and a bogey on the TPC Twin Cities course. The 11-time PGA Tour winner has had three top-seven finishes this season, including a tie for fifth in July in the U.S. Senior Open.
Loren Roberts, the tour money leader coming off a victory last week in the Senior British Open, was a stroke back along with defending champion Tom Purtzer, J.C. Snead, Curtis Strange and Keith Fergus.
Purtzer had a course-record 63 in his opening round last year en route to a one-stroke victory. On Friday, he birdied the first three holes and had just one bogey.
Hale Irwin was two strokes back at 69 along with Brad Bryant, Bruce Lietzke, Andy North, David Edwards, James Mason and Tom McKnight. The 61-year-old Irwin won the 2002 event on the TPC course and took the 1997 and 1999 titles at Bunker Hills.