Seniors Golf : Thomson Just One Stroke Off Lead

Of the top players on the Seniors Tour, only Peter Thomson of Australia did not join the over-50 group of professional golfers direct from the regular PGA Tour.

It took the 55-year-old five-time British Open champion a couple of years to get back into the swing, but he is now the closest pursuer of Don January for money-winning honors this year.

Thomson shot a two-under-par 70 in the opening round of the $250,000 Carta Blanca Seniors tournament Friday at MountainGate Country Club and is only one stroke behind the leaders, January and Jim Ferree, who shot 69s.

Partly because the first round of the 54-hole tournament was also the last round of the pro-amateur, two groups failed to finish. One of them included Charles Owens, who is three under par with two holes to play. He needs two pars when he completes his first round this morning to tie for the lead.

Owens is a story in himself. He plays cross-handed, the opposite of orthodox golfers; has a fused knee that gives him a stiff left leg; has had three operations on his right knee, and uses a putter with a 50-inch shaft.

Largely because of the weather, only six pros broke par Friday. Owens figures to be the seventh. Art Silverstrone, another relative unknown, had a 70, while Doug Sanders, Billy Casper and Paul Harney were at 71.

Thomson, who started early when it was both cold and windy, instead of just windy as it was when January teed off in the afternoon, had a brilliant round going until he three-putted the eighth hole--his 17th--and hit an approach shot fat on his last hole for a second consecutive bogey.

“The wind helped on some holes and hurt on some,” Thomson said. “The big problem was trying to putt in the cold. It was like taking a club out of the refrigerator. It was impossible to get the feel of the club for the first three hours.”

In his younger days, Thomson had much more success around the world than he did in the United States, where he scored only one PGA victory in a decade on the tour. He was instrumental in starting the Asian and African tours, and also played extensively in Europe.

He had been retired five or six years when he decided to run for the Australian Parliament. He campaigned hard for 18 months, he said, but lost to the incumbent by 1,100 votes out of 44,000 cast.

After losing the election in April 1982, he decided to take up golf seriously again.

“I had played in the ‘Legends of Golf’ in 1978 and ’79 with Kel Nagle as my partner, and we lost by a stroke each time,” Thomson said. “The Legends created so much interest that when I kept getting invitations to play in seniors tournaments, I decided to join the fun tour. It is a fun thing, too. Even though there is big money involved, it is still the fun tour.”

Thomson, who had won three Australian Opens, nine New Zealand Opens and the championships of West Germany, Hong Kong, India and Italy among others, struggled his first two years as a senior. He managed to win $90,000 but did not win his first title until the World Senior Invitational in 1984. He also won the 46th PGA Seniors’ event, and was third on the money list with $228,940.

“It’s probably true that I needed to sharpen my competitive edge before I won a tournament,” he said. “But, I returned to golf because of the fun of it. I don’t feel any pressure to win. I just go out and have a good time.

“My wife (Mary) and my 22-year-old daughter (Peta Anne) are traveling with me. Mary and I will make the entire tour. My daughter will probably get tired of it. My wife enjoys the traveling and the hotel life. She says she has earned it. While I was off playing all over the world, she was at home raising the family. Now, it’s her turn to enjoy the traveling.”

Thomson has a partner in a golf construction business in Australia, Japan and other countries. The firm has designed or constructed 20 courses.

He has earned $43,200 on the tour this year. He won the Vintage at Palm Springs two weeks ago, but slipped to a tie for 16th last week at Phoenix.

When he first played MountainGate early in the week, he said it wasn’t his kind of course, but he seems to be changing his mind after his fine early round.

“Ordinarily, getting off early the first day of these 54-hole affairs is good,” he said. “You get a shot at the greens before they’ve been beat up, and it makes for better putting. But today, the advantage was nullified by the cold.”

Sanders, who shot a 71 despite an early-morning start, agreed.

“I knew it was cold when I woke up and saw those penguins going through my room,” he said.

Sanders, dressed in an orange shirt, bright yellow pants and two-toned shoes to match his ensemble, came to the first tee wrapped in a tablecloth he said he found at the 19th hole.