Keith Horne jumped out early on a soggy and wet morning at Congressional Country Club’s blue course and posted a 4-under 68 to take the first-round lead through the morning wave in the Senior PGA Championship.
“Was a pretty solid day today. I think the relief of having a wetter and softer golf course out there today was-yeah, I was very fortunate,” Horne said. “I played a practice round on Monday, and I was very scared to play the golf course. The greens were hard and fast, and to get out there today and to have them a little bit softer and slower, it was a huge help.”
The 1997 U.S. Open winner at Congressional, Ernie Els, felt the damp conditions Thursday morning made players have to adapt and deal with the elements.
“It was raining a bit this morning. It was a little uncomfortable, a little chilly,” Els, who shot a 3-under 69, said. “I'll take something under par and see where we go.”
Already at this stage of the Senior PGA, Els thinks that those groupings who go late-early will have the advantage with the weather. Friday’s forecast calls for partly cloudy weather all day Friday with wind going from 5-10 mph in the morning to 10-15 mph in the afternoon.
“I think it's going to be -- scoring opportunities are going to be this afternoon, unfortunately, but it is what it is. We couldn't control that.” Els said.
“It was consistent. It was a round I wanted to have. I would love to have had a couple better.”
Joining Els at 3-under in the tie for second are Mario Tiziani, Darren Fichardt, and Simon Khan. Jason Caron finished tied for fourth in this championship last year, and he’s sitting at 2-under now after an opening 70 in the first group out at 7:00 am.
“I’m very pleased," Caron said. "The golf course was tough, especially we had that misty rain for most of the front nine, and then we actually dumped the stuff back in the locker because we had to wait, and then it started misting again on 11. It was kind of a little crazy out there with the weather.”
No rain is expected for the next three days, but be warned, this is Washington, DC in the late spring. Weather changes rapidly as storms appear quickly and often, just like the leaderboard shifted in the early going of the Senior PGA Championship.
