GOLF / SENIORS AT OJAI : A Reunion on the Leader Board

The Senior PGA Tour has flourished largely because it is an enjoyable excursion into the past.

What could be more nostalgic than a tournament in which Gary Player and Arnold Palmer are top contenders?

That’s the way it was Friday on a warm, beautiful day at Ojai Valley Inn & Country Club in the opening round of the $500,000 54-hole GTE Classic.

Player, who hasn’t won in two years, shot a seven-under-par 63 to tie George Archer for the first-round lead. Palmer, who hasn’t won since 1988, is only three shots back. Putting the way he did in the ‘60s, when he was the dominant player in the sport, Palmer shot a 66, to the delight of the boisterous crowd following him.

Walt Zembriski, who won the first senior event at Ojai in 1989, birdied the last two holes and slipped into second place, along with non-winner Jack Kiefer, at 64. DeWitt Weaver shot a 65.

Tom Weiskopf, who was the top scorer in the Chrysler Cup last week, did not fare as well in his first senior tour event. Weiskopf missed a five-foot birdie putt on the first hole and finished with an even-par 70 over the tricky 6,190-yard course. Defending champion Bruce Crampton was in a group of seven at 67.

Player weathered an unnerving incident on the 13th hole. While standing on the tee, Player watched, stunned, as playing partner Gene Littler hooked a drive that hit Player’s wife, Vivienne, on the shoulder.

“I have seen two people killed by golf balls, and I stood there helpless,” Player said. “I recognized my wife by her tan skirt. She would have been killed if it had hit her in the head.

“It was nerve-racking. But she gave me a sign she was all right. The first-aid tent was near, and they put an ice pack on it. Just now she told me it was sore.

“I sure wouldn’t want to lose Vivienne. Nobody ever had to put up with more from a golfer than she has. She raised six kids, sometimes even traveling around the world with them while I played golf. Other times it was a kiss goodby and I was gone for another 10,000-mile trip.

“Don’t tell her I wound up with a birdie on the hole. I was so shook up, I barely got the ball off the tee. It skimmed along the ground. My second shot was terrible, too, and I was 30 feet away on the apron. I sank it for a birdie. What a strange game this is!

“Years ago I was playing a match with Billy Casper in South Africa and I hit a duck hook. Would you believe, the ball hit my mother-in-law? That was upsetting, too.”

Player had three more birdies in the last five holes for his 63, only one shot off Chi Chi Rodriguez’s tournament record, set last year.

“Years ago, in one of the many tournaments I used to play around the world, I shot a 59,” Player said. “I had a real chance to duplicate the feat today.

“I had makeable birdie putts on each of the first five holes and left them all right on the edge. Just when I thought I couldn’t sink a putt, they started dropping. Later, I missed a three-footer for par on 11. It was a legitimate chance at a 59.”

Putting has been Palmer’s chief problem in recent years. He reached into the past and putted like he did when he was the best and, for one round, it worked.

“I moved the ball back in my stance and putted boldly,” he said. “When I dropped a few and made the others coming back, my confidence soared.

“I was very encouraged. My physical and mental being improved. If I can play like this, I will play more tournaments. Otherwise, I won’t retire, I’ll just fade away.”

Archer, who said the warm air made the ball carry farther, was hitting five-irons 190 yards, although the ground was still soft. He birdied four holes on the back nine to get to seven under.

Golf Notes

Jerry Barber, who did not break 80 in the three tournaments he played on the regular tour, shot a 73 as he and son Tom became the first father and son to play in a senior PGA event. Tom shot a 74. . . . Jack Kiefer, who has not won a tournament but earned more than $200,000 last year, his second on the tour, had the hottest streak. Kiefer, who started on the back nine, birdied seven of nine holes, beginning with the 15th. His string of four birdies in a row ended when he missed a four-footer on the sixth.

Fred Ruiz, one of the Monday qualifiers, had a hole-in-one on the 181-yard 17th hole, using a five-iron. Ruiz, who has earned only $1,165 in four years on the tour, qualifies for the year-end hole-in-one tournament, a nine-hole event in which anyone who makes an ace wins $1 million.