Three players finished under par the last time the U.S. Senior Open was contested at The Broadmoor, in 2008. Three years later, three golfers were subpar at the end of the U.S. Women’s Open at the Colorado Springs resort.

After Thursday’s first round of the 39th Senior Open at The Broadmoor, no one would be surprised if the trend continues.

Though eight golfers finished round 1 in red figures, that total is likely to go down as the championship progresses and the conditions get (even) tougher.

And on the other end of the spectrum on Thursday, roughly half the field — 76 players — posted scores of 6-over-par 76 or higher.

“It’s playing tough. It’s hard,” said Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe, who managed an even-par 70 and shares ninth place. “The (Robert Trent) Jones greens, they’re all backing up. When you go across the street, those are all bouncing 10 yards. Then you come to 18 and it plugs in the fairway and it plugs on the green. And they’re out watering it before we’re playing. It was hard to have consistency.

“Then the breeze — one minute it was in (to the players), one minute it was left to right, one minute it was right to left. It would just go in a circle. That kind of made it tough.”

But on a day with all that and temperatures approaching 100 degrees, Jerry Kelly (pictured in USGA photo) was a bit of an anomaly. The PGA Tour Champions money leader in 2018, Kelly was bogey-free going into 18 — the only player who could say that at that point — but three-putted from 47 feet to make bogey on the last. Despite that, and a 2 1/2-foot miss for birdie on No. 9, he shot a 4-under-par 66, good for an two-stroke lead.

“I was pretty disappointed with that three-putt on the last hole,” said the 51-year-old from Madison, Wis.. “I misjudged the (approach shot). But (the course) gave me a lot today.”

Indeed, Kelly birdied four of his first six holes and added another one on 13.

“I hit the ball really well today,” said Kelly, who still also has status on the PGA Tour. “My coach and brother-in-law, Jim Schuman, is playing in the tournament as well (and shot 80 Thursday). So he really helped me and got me squared away. It’s a new/old move type thing and I just kept it up all day and felt really comfortable with it. Shots were coming out where I wanted them to. So it was a fun round.”

Four players share second place at 68, including the most interesting man in golf, Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, who was paired with Kelly and holed out for eagle on the 331-yard second hole. Also at that figure was Rocco Mediate, who 10 years ago barely lost a playoff to Tiger Woods in the U.S. Open. Joining them at 68 were Kevin Sutherland and Deane Pappas.

The only other players to break 70 were two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, Billy Mayfair and Scott Parel, who matched 69s.

“The golf course played just like we wanted it to,” Mediate said. “If you miss (a fairway), you pay. If you hit it in the fairway, you could still pay because the greens are tough. It’s a perfect U.S. Open setup, in my opinion. I love it.”

Said Sutherland: “I thought (the USGA) did a great job of setting up the course. It was tough but it was playable.”

Jobe (left), who lived in Colorado from 1970 to ’99, is among those in the top 10.

Jobe was 2 over par for the first five holes, but went bogey-free the rest of the way and birdied both par-3s on the back nine for his 70. His 2-under score was the best on the back nine on Thursday.

“To shoot par, I didn’t have my best stuff, so that was good,” he said. “I made some good putts and I haven’t been doing that, so I kind of ended on a positive note the way I see it.

“If you can keep it at par … there aren’t going to be a lot of guys under par at the end of the day. Look at how few there are the first day. And it’s going to get tougher tomorrow afternoon for us. Par is going to be a heck of a score, which is how it should be. I like that. It drives you crazy, trust me, but that’s how it should be.”

For all the scores from the U.S. Senior Open, CLICK HERE.
 

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For all the essentials regarding this week’s U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor, CLICK HERE.