Monty Shines, Oak Tree Gang Falters On Day One At Oak Tree

Thursday’s first round of the U.S. Senior Open presented two sides of Oak Tree National.

After early morning rains watered down the course, Colin Montgomerie went out early and made eight birdies en route to a 6-under 65. Marco Dawson finished his day with a 5-under 66 to remain in second place by himself.

The rest of the golfers weren’t so lucky. As the Oklahoma heat cranked up throughout the day, the scores just got higher and higher. Outside of Mark Brooks’ 3-under 68, no one else in the field shot better than two-under par.

The Oak Tree Gang finished with mixed results. Gil Morgan shot a 1-over 72 to find himself in a tie for 29th. Willie Wood and Bob Tway both finished the day at 3-over and are in 56th place.

It was a bad Champions Tour debut for Scott Verplank. A day after turning 50, Verplank hacked his way to a 4-over round of 75. He double-bogeyed three holes and topped his drive on No. 15, sending it not even 50 yards off the tee box. Verplank will have to do a bit of work to ensure he makes the cut and plays on the weekend.

The tournament is setting up to be a typical U.S. Open, as only 17 players are currently under par.