Toshiba Senior Classic Golf: Doyle burning the Newport oil

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH - Like Mark McGwire earlier in the week and a special

connection with the No. 70, Allen Doyle would probably shame himself if

he ever shot under that number at Newport Beach Country Club.

The site of the Senior PGA Tour’s eighth annual Toshiba Classic has

been an exclusive 69-and-under club for Doyle, the former amateur

sensation from Georgia with the awkward golf swing who become the tour’s

Player of the Year and leading money winner last year.

“You come here knowing you’ve played well in the past. Various places

sometimes work out better for various players,” said Doyle, who shot a

5-under-par 66 Friday to become the tournament’s first solo first-round

leader since the event moved to Newport Beach in 1996, after the

inaugural Toshiba Classic the previous year at Mesa Verde Country Club.

“You know the length is not a factor (at 6,584 yards, it’s the

shortest layout on the Senior Tour), so I just concentrate on the

fairways and try not to make bogeys out there. I just try to play within

myself. I don’t try to do anything outstanding. I just want to hit the

greens.”

Dave Eichelberger shot a first-round 63 to lead by himself in 1995,

but that event was at Mesa Verde. Eichelberger’s 63 remains a tournament

record for an opening round.

At Newport Beach, Doyle has sizzled, posting nine straight rounds of

69 or better in as many starts. The tournament’s all-time leading money

winner ($383,800) and 2000 Toshiba champion has a 6-under on the front

nine in his nine rounds here and an incredible 32-under on the back nine.

Doyle, who finished tied for second in the 1999 Toshiba and third last

year, was still fuming when he entered the media room Friday, after his

bogey at 18 -- the only blemish on his scorecard. But he got over it

quickly once he started talking about his six birdies.

“These holes out here,” Doyle said, “as soon as you try to make

birdie, you make bogey.”

One shot behind Doyle is Hale Irwin, the 1998 Toshiba champion, and

Jim Dent at 4-under 67.

Dent teed off late (11:20 a.m.), but drained a 40-foot birdie putt on

the first hole, a par-4 dogleg left.

“If you keep playing good, something good is going to happen to you. I

just try to have fun out there,” said Dent, who birdied the first three

holes, then bogeyed the par-3 No. 4, before making birdie at No. 9 and

dropping to 3-under at the turn.

Dent, playing with a new set of Callaway clubs, birdied 12, but gave

it back with a bogey at 14, then birdied the easiest hole on the golf

course, the par-5 No. 15, to fall into a second-place tie with Irwin, one

of the hottest golfers in the tournament.

Irwin, who enjoyed one of his best first rounds in recent memory,

could make it a real dogfight this weekend with Doyle, two fiercely

competitive players. Dent, more passive than either Irwin or Doyle,

played his best round at Newport Beach since carding a 67 in the final

round of the ’96 Toshiba.

“I don’t think I played all that special,” said Irwin, who missed a

couple of opportunities for birdies. “I didn’t play badly. I just didn’t

feel like I putted great. I had one of those days where I had a better

score than how I played.”

That could be trouble for those following Irwin, who won this year’s

ACE Group Classic in Florida for his Senior Tour-record 33rd title.

Irwin, who birdied three of the first seven holes en route to his

bogey-free round, missed birdie putts of eight feet at No. 9, 10 feet at

No. 10 and six feet at No. 11.

“A really good score got away from me in the middle of my round,” said

Irwin, second behind Doyle among the tournament’s all-time money leaders.

“This is a great start considering that I have not gotten off to a very

good start the last couple of tournaments. I’m a lot more comfortable

that I can carry that momentum into Saturday and Sunday’s rounds.”

Several players follow Doyle, Irwin and Dent at 3-under, including Tom

Watson, who lost to Tom Kite in a playoff last week at the SBC Senior

Classic at Valencia Country Club.

Watson heads a list of eight players at 68, two strokes off Doyle’s

pace, but Kite, who passed Irwin on the money list last week when he won

at Valencia, withdrew Friday because of back spasms. Kite attempted to

warm up before his scheduled 9:50 a.m. tee time, but was unable to play.

Ted Goin replaced him in the field.

Watson had his 12th straight round of par or better, the longest

streak on the Senior Tour this year. Watson has not had a round over par

in five events.