Unlikely leaders pace field at Senior Players Championship

The trio entered the major championship in Timonium playing a combined 54 events this year with no wins and a meager 18 top-25 finishes. But beginning Friday morning, they held at least a one-stroke lead over the field’s other 75 golfers after each shot a 5-under par 65.

“My season is getting better and better,” said Blackmar, who is in his first season on the tour for players over 50 years old. “It took me 14, 15 tournaments this year to get where I started feeling comfortable on the golf course.”

But Blackmar wasn’t the only golfer comfortable on the course.

Smyth, who hasn’t led after any round this season prior to Thursday, recorded five birdies and no bogeys on his way to a share of the lead.

“I’ve been working on my swing the past five, six weeks,” Smyth said. “I’ve been very frustrated with the way I have played this year. But [on Thursday] I played really well from tee to green. I was really happy with my round.”

Fleisher, who hasn’t recorded a win since 2004, made six birdies in his opening round, with only a bogey on the 10th hole keeping him from entering Friday with sole possession of first.

“You have to pace yourself,” Fleisher said. “It’s nice to get out of the box fast.”

The three leaders are followed by Bernhard Langer, Fred Funk, Scott Hoch and Eduardo Romero at 4-under par. Defending champion Loren Roberts, who didn’t three-putt once during last year’s Senior Players Championship, had bogeys on No. 7 and No. 9 to finish the first 18 holes at 2-under par. No player shot better than a 3-under par 67 in last fall’s first round, and players leading or co-leading after 18 holes have won the event just five times in its 25-year history.

And even though not every golfer was pleased with their play, Funk, a former golf coach at the University of Maryland, will take the results.

“It feels a lot better to hit the ball like crap and score well,” he said, “than to hit the ball well and come away with a tough score.”

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