Weiskopf’s 66 Follows a Bad Day

One day after playing so poorly in the pro-am he didn’t want to turn in his scorecard, Tom Weiskopf shot a six-under-par 66 Thursday for a one-stroke lead in the first round of the Senior Players Championship at Dearborn, Mich.

Bob Charles, the first-round leader at last week’s U.S. Senior Open, and Lee Trevino were at 67 in the last major of the year on the senior tour.

Trevino, who sat out last week’s Senior Open because of a knee injury, made seven birdies, but bogeys on the 10th and 16th holes kept him from the lead.

Weiskopf, who has won two senior events this year, had six birdies and an eagle-three on the 542-yard seventh hole en route to his best round in a senior event since February.

“I was a little bit concerned because in the pro-am I really didn’t have a lot of good shots,” Weiskopf said. “It would have been an 80, if I had turned in the card. I was tired from travel, and I didn’t have a chance to practice before that round.”

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Scott Hoch, the leading money winner in the field, shot a seven-under-par 64 and took a one-shot lead in the first round of the Michelob Championship at Williamsburg, Va., as officials braced for Hurricane Bertha.

Hoch, whose $633,005 is 13th on the PGA Tour this year, had eight birdies on his first trip over the 6,797-yard River Course at Kingsmill Golf Club.

Curtis Strange, never a winner on his home course, and Fred Funk shot 65s.

While the golfers took advantage of uncharacteristically cool weather in the opening round, PGA Tour and tournament officials met several times to keep tabs on Bertha and update contingency plans in case of bad weather.

Stewart Williams, a meteorologist who travels with the tour, said he expected heavy rain and high winds to begin overnight. Officials decided to dismantle some tents and a skybox.

Hoch, who made the cut all 13 times he entered this event, started on the back nine and birdied four of the first six holes. He added birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 7 and 8 before a bogey on the par-four ninth.

“I wasn’t pleased with my driving--again,” Hoch said.