GOLF / SENIOR TPC : Nicklaus, Ben Smith Share First-Round Lead at 65

After the practice rounds, golfers predicted that only bad weather could prevent their giving par a beating at Dearborn Country Club.

The weather was fabulous for the first round of the 72-hole, million-dollar Mazda Senior Tournament Players Championship here Thursday and so were the scores.

Jack Nicklaus tied the competitive record on the 6,665-yard, par-72 course with a 65, seven under par. Even so, that gave him only a share of first place.

Ben Smith, who didn’t become a professional until eight years ago at 48, had come in a couple of hours earlier with his own 65. Nicklaus birdied Nos. 17 and 18, two of the toughest holes, to equal it.

Forty-eight of the 76 golfers broke par on a warm, sunny day with hardly any wind. Arnold Palmer didn’t.

“I went out in 34 and came in in two hours,” Palmer said after shooting a 72. “I just can’t get it working.”

Those expected to challenge Nicklaus were in position. Lee Trevino, winner of five tournaments already, shot a 66; and Gary Player, who won the other senior major, the PGA, was in a large group at 67.

Ralph Terry, the former New York Yankee pitcher who is famous for winning the most valuable player award in the 1962 World Series and notorious for serving the home run to Bill Mazeroski that won the 1960 championship for Pittsburgh, shot a 66, just one stroke back.

“It was a high slider to Maz,” Terry joked as he entered the interview room.

Terry, who is not an exempt player on the tour, finished tied for 30th in the TPC last year to qualify for this year’s tournament.

“I joined the PGA in 1967, after the Mets released me,” Terry, 54, said. “I made it through qualifying school to make the tour last year. But my game is so wild I never know what will happen. Today the putts just fell.

“I’m tickled to death just to be here. I played with Mickey Mantle and against Stan Musial and Willie Mays. Now I play golf with Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. How about that!

“I had two good rounds at the Senior PGA and was paired with Nicklaus. I heard Jack was nervous, but he shot a 67 and I did some dumb things and soared out of sight. I learned some things, so I hope to play with him again.”’

Terry will get his wish, playing in the last threesome today with Nicklaus and Smith.

Smith, a former Marine, is a nonwinner since joining the 50-and-older tour in 1984. But he earned $160,000 in 1988.

“I had a strange round,” Smith said. “The best way to play this course is to keep the ball in the fairways. I missed most of them, but I putted well and recovered well.”

Nicklaus was most excited about using a five-wood for the first time in a tournament.

“I guess that I’ve really become a senior,” he said. “I’ve practiced with it, and it might come in handy in the U.S. Open at Medinah (Country Club, near Chicago).

“I put it in the bag today and left out the two-iron. On the sixth hole (a 505-yard par-five), my second shot called for a two-iron. I used the five-wood and made the green, 25 feet from the pin.

“Barbara (his wife) was following me and I waved the club and shouted, ‘Look, I used a five-wood.’

“No matter how many times you have used a club, it’s exciting to use it the first time (in competition) and make a good shot.

“Obviously, I played well. Not having played lately, I hoped to just stay in touch with the leaders for two rounds and then see what happened. This changes things.”

Trevino and Player, at least, aren’t ready to concede. Trevino had trouble driving early, but his hot putter enabled him to stay close.

Player said he had to change his swing after hitting a couple of duck hooks early in the round. He was four under for the last 10 holes.

The South African showed no ill effects from a mistake he made Wednesday. Thinking he was using eyewash, he picked up the wrong solution, one apparently containing some acid.

“They burned and I couldn’t see for a while,” he said, “But they are fine now and once I adjusted my swing, I played well.”

Although Nicklaus insists that the course is not as easy as it has played, the average for the round was only 71.051 for the entire field. The four par-five holes yielded 11 eagles and 120 birdies.