Soggy course no obstacle

Published 11:39 pm Friday, August 22, 2008

SNOQUALMIE — Rain earlier in the week made for some mushy fairways, but that was about the only flaw on an otherwise glorious afternoon for Friday’s first round of the Boeing Classic golf tournament at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge.

Thirty-six players in the 77-man field were at even-par or better, with Mark Wiebe and Scott Simpson sharing the first-day lead with 5-under-par totals of 67.

“It was a beautiful day and the golf course was ripe for the taking, I thought, because of the soft conditions,” said Wiebe, who seemed likely to have the lead alone before giving a stroke back with an 18th-hole bogey.

On a day of bright blue skies and panoramic views of the nearby Cascade Mountains, Wiebe birdied four of his first five holes and then added two more birdies on the back nine before taking a 1-over 6 on the closing hole. Wiebe, who joined the Champions Tour after turning 50 last September, is seeking his third tour victory.

Simpson, meanwhile, had a bogey-free round with two birdies on the front and three on the back. He is in his third full season on the Champions Tour and is trying for his second win.

“I played real consistent,” said Simpson, who won the 1987 United States Open. “I think I missed one fairway in the first cut of rough and then one green where I was putting on the edge. I was hitting the ball pretty straight, which is a fun thing to do.”

Wiebe and Simpson are examples of Champions Tour players who have flourished in their early 50s after lackluster years of tour golf in their late 40s. Wiebe, for instance, earned over $4 million in his PGA Tour career, but roughly $75,000 between 2004 and 2007 on the PGA and Nationwide tours.

But in just 24 Champions Tour events since last September, he has pocketed over $1.2 million. And that’s helpful, he said with a smile, because “I still play golf for a living. This is great and it’s fun and everything, but it’s also my job and I have to provide. I have two kids in college, so I have to make more putts.”

Part of Wiebe’s golfing malaise in recent years came from various injuries, including an ailing elbow that needed surgery.

“But I got healthy and started working hard on my game to prepare for (the Champions Tour),” he said. “Any success I’ve had did not come easy, for sure. … (But it was important) to prove to myself and to show my kids that adversity is part of life. So I had a lot of incentive, believe me.”

Likewise, Simpson has enjoyed a rebirth since turning 50 in September of 2005. He has played in 79 Champions Tour events since then and has earned over $3 million.

In Friday’s round, the field was given the OK for “lift, clean and play” by tour officials due to fairways that were mucky in places. That is, golfers were allowed to mark their balls in the fairway, wipe them clean and then replace them.

It was, said Simpson, “definitely the (right) thing. I mean, you had mud on your ball every time.”

Even so, Wiebe said, “it’s remarkable the golf course was not more soggy. Not that it was firm at all, but I was expecting it to be more soggy than it was. So my hat’s off to the drainage system they have here.”

For Wiebe, the day was not all great weather and great shots. On the 431-yard, par-4 14th hole _ Snoqualmie Ridge’s signature hole, where a downhill tee shot of some 275 yards across a vast canyon can carry the green _ he was lining up a putt when he was nearly struck by a drive from the trailing threesome. The ball, reportedly belonging to Sandy Lyle, missed Wiebe by about 15 feet.

“I don’t know how it missed six of us (three golfers, three caddies) on the green,” said a tight-lipped Wiebe, who then declined to say more about the incident.

Bob Gilder, Gary Hallberg and David Edwards are tied for third at 4-under.

Tom Kite, who won the tournament in 2006 and was the runner-up in 2005, briefly shared the early lead with Wiebe after following a first-hole bogey with five birdies over his next seven holes. Kite then played the remaining 10 holes at 1-over and finished at 3-under 69, leaving him tied with five other players for sixth.

The three-day tournament resumes today with tee times starting at 11 a.m. and continuing through 1 p.m.