Associated Press
CARY, N.C. — Russ Cochran topped the SAS Championship leaderboard Friday in his return from a back injury, hitting all hit all 18 greens in regulation and shooting a 6-under 66.
Cochran, the 2010 tournament winner, is making his first start since the U.S. Senior Open in July.
“I came here hoping to finish the tournament really,” Cochran said. “But I fell into a great mode and played a good, solid round. Maybe I need more time off, I don’t know.
“Of course, when you’re playing well, you feel like you could do it all the time,” Cochran said. “But I’ve got to give myself a lot of room and be very, very patient and realize that I haven’t been in the heat in a long time. I haven’t played much less been in the heat. I’ll be pretty calm (Saturday), I think.”
Steve Pate, Andrew Magee, Fred Funk and Jay Don Blake were a stroke back. Funk, the Insperity Championship winner in May, missed a birdie putt on 18 by inches that would have given him a share of the lead.
“I had a really efficient front nine,” said Funk, who made the turn with a 30. “I got everything out of that front nine. Obviously, shooting 5 under’s great. I’m playing really good. I’m playing solid, close to playing really, really good, and it’s more — it’s fun just to play.”
Magee extended his streak without a three-putt to 190 holes, the third-longest run on the Champions Tour this year.
Defending champion Kenny Perry and Bernard Langer topped a group at 68.
Neal Lancaster, from Smithfield, shot a 72 in his debut on the 50-and-over tour. He won the 1994 Byron Nelson Classic for his lone PGA Tour title.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Ryan Moore matched the course record and his career best with a 10-under 61 on Thursday in the first round of the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
The former UNLV player had nine birdies, an eagle — on the 341-yard, par-4 15th — and a bogey in perfect conditions at TPC Summerlin to take a one-stroke lead in the Fall Series opener.
Brendon de Jonge had a 62, and Tim Herron and John Huh shot 63. Justin Leonard, Chris Kirk and Jonas Blixt were three strokes back at 64. Kirk eagled the 15th and par-5 16th.
Moore also shot a 61 this season in the Humana Challenge on PGA West’s Nicklaus Course. The Las Vegas resident has seven top-10 finishes and is 36th on the money list. The final top 30 will receive spots in the Masters.
Moore tied the TPC Summerlin record set by Davis Love III in 2001 and matched by Tag Ridings in 2004 and Hunter Haas in 2011. Chip Beck holds the overall tournament record, shooting a 59 in 1991 at Sunrise Golf Club.
DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP
KINGSBARNS, Scotland — South Africa’s Branden Grace birdied the final five holes at Kingsbarns for a course-record 12-under 60 in the first round of the Dunhill Links Championship.
Grace, a three-time winner on the European Tour this year, broke the record of 62 set by England’s Lee Westwood on his way to victory in 2003.
Grace had a two-stroke lead in the three-course event. Victor Dubuisson shot a course-record 10-under 62 on the Old Course at nearby St. Andrews. England’s Oliver Wilson and France’s Gregory Havret had the best rounds as Carnoustie, shooting 67. The final round will be played on the Old Course.
The four Ryder Cup players in the event struggled at Carnoustie. Germany’s Martin Kaymer opened with a 70, American Dustin Johnson and Sweden’s Peter Hanson shot 72, and Scotland’s Paul Lawrie had a 75.
USGA SENIOR AMATEUR
WEST CALDWELL, N.J. — Paul Simson won the USGA Senior Amateur for the second time in three years, beating Curtis Skinner 4 and 3 at Mountain Ridge Country Club.
The 61-year-old Simson, from Raleigh, N.C., is the 14th player to win the tournament twice. He won in 2010 at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla., and is a three-time British Senior Amateur champion. The 55-year-old Skinner, from Lake Bluff, Ill., was making his first appearance in the event for players 55 and older.
