Golf Roundup : Senior Rookie Leads at Rancho Murieta

John Paul Cain, a rookie on the Senior PGA Tour, shot a five-under-par 67 Friday to take a one-stroke lead in the opening round of the Rancho Murieta Senior Gold Rush.

Ken Still was in second place at 68.

Ray Beallo, Bert Yancey, Phil Rodgers and Dave Hill shot 69s, and Al Geiberger, Dan Morgan and Bob Erickson had 70s on the 6,674-yard Rancho Murieta Country Club course.

Cain earned $45,000 when he won the Greater Grand Rapids Open last month. Friday, the 53-year-old stockbroker from Houston made five birdies and said that his victory, which earned him a one-year exemption, has allowed him to relax and play his normal game.

“One of the hardest things about playing tournament golf is to be patient,” Cain said. “The guys who have played out here for 30 years have learned that.”

Still, who began his round on the 10th hole, was six under par after his first eight holes. He was still six under par after a birdie on the sixth hole but then bogeyed the next two holes to finish with a 68.

“I guess it’s kind of like the fisherman who caught a 30-pounder and let it get away,” Still said, after playing his first nine holes in 31, only to shoot a 37 on the next nine.

Defending champion Bob Charles, the tour’s second-leading money-winner so far this year, shot a 73. Orville Moody, the leading money-winner with $382,768, shot a 72. Moody won the Gold Rush in 1987.