GOLF ROUNDUP : Watson Shares Lead in Senior Debut

Tom Watson made a successful debut on the Senior PGA Tour on Friday at Indianapolis, joining four others atop the Comfort Classic leaderboard at six-under-par 66.

Six days after turning 50, Watson overcame crosswinds to grab a share of the lead with Bobby Stroble, Bob Eastwood, Jim Dent and Gary McCord.

Jim Barker, Terry Dill, Tom Jenkins, Gil Morgan, Dave Stockton and Fred Gibson shot 67s. Twenty-seven players, including defending champion Hugh Baiocchi, were within four shots of the lead. Baiocchi, who finished the 1998 tournament with a record 20-under score, shot 70 Friday.

The admittedly nervous Watson was even par after five holes before going on a birdie binge to turn at four under. He added two birdies on the back side, including a 10-footer on No. 18.

“I started off thinking I was not going to have a good round,” he said.

Watson cheered himself and the biggest portion of the gallery by turning near disaster into a birdie on the par-four eighth hole. He hooked a two-iron off the tee and the ball skipped along the rough near a stream, but stayed out of the water. Watson hit a six-iron from there to 12 feet and made the putt.

“There was not much tension left in my body after that,” said Watson, who adjusted his swing after blading an approach shot over the green on No. 3, resulting in a bogey. “From then on, it was pretty easy.”

Dent made it look even easier for awhile, dipping to eight under through 16 holes. With a chance to equal the course record of 63, Dent bogeyed Nos. 17 and 18, three-putting the final hole after hitting his approach well above the pin.

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Hal Sutton birdied the last two holes for a five-under 67 and took a one-stroke lead over three players in the Canadian Open at Oakville.

Two weeks after he withdrew from a tournament out of frustration for the first time in his 17-year career, Paul Azinger had a bogey-free 66 and was at 137 along with Lee Janzen, who had a 71, and Steve Stricker, who had a 70.

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Se Ri Pak shot a one-under 71 and her 138 total kept her two strokes in front of Laura Davies, who also shot a 71, after the second round of the Samsung World Championship of Women’s Golf at Maple Grove, Minn.