LIV Golf's Richard Bland tied for
lead at Senior PGA Championship
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[May 24, 2024] Playing in his first senior event of any kind, Englishman Richard
Bland shares the 18-hole lead at a major championship.
Bland, a member of LIV Golf, and Australian Richard Green are tied
atop the leaderboard at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship after
shooting 7-under 65s on Thursday at Harbor Shores Resort in Benton
Harbor, Mich.
The leaders hold a two-shot edge over Steve Stricker, Scott Dunlap,
Jeff Schmid, Canadian Mike Weir and South Korea's K.J. Choi at
5-under 66.
Bland joined LIV for its inaugural campaign in 2022, one year after
he became the oldest player to win a DP World Tour event at 48. He
told reporters Thursday that he received a Senior PGA Championship
invite "out of the blue" last year.
"I got an email from (PGA of America official) Bob Jeffrey," said
Bland, now 51. "Unfortunately I couldn't play it. Clashed with a LIV
event.
"And then when I looked at the schedule this year, I saw that it was
a free week, so I kind of reached out and said, ‘Look, I appreciated
the gesture for the invite. If it could be run to this year I would
love to come play.' And Bob came straight back and said, we would
love to have you, so here I am."
Bland is trying to make the most of his opportunity. He started
Thursday's round on the back nine, birdied Nos. 11 and 12 and holed
an eagle at the par-5 15th. He dialed up three more birdies the rest
of the way without a bogey.
"When I got here I kind of felt it sort of the lends itself to my
strength," Bland said. "You got to drive it good to give yourself
then the opportunities to hit your iron shots close to the flag.
Greens are firming up a little bit. I managed to do that today."
Green, 53, was 4 under through five holes after he chased two
birdies with an eagle at the par-5 fifth. He bogeyed the next hole,
but it was his only miscue of the day, soon smoothed over by a
three-birdie run at Nos. 9-11. His last birdie came at No. 15.
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"I hit a great drive down 5 and left myself about
250 yards to the flag I think I had, something like that," Green
said of his eagle. "I knew my hybrid carries around the high 220s.
"Hit it just perfect and just shaped it in there nicely and it was
tracking towards the hole. I think it ran across the edge of the
hole and finished about maybe seven feet past the hole; then hit a
really nice putt and made it."
Green did most of his winning in Europe and Australia during his
career. He has yet to win an event of any kind on the PGA Champions
Tour.
Green said players "always got to watch out for" Stricker, the
defending champion who has seven senior majors to his name.
Stricker had seven birdies through 15 holes before a double bogey at
the par-4 16th kept him from being an 18-hole co-leader.
"You have to commit to a lot of things out here and a lot of shots
that may make you feel a little uncomfortable," Stricker said. "So I
did that for the most part. Put a bad swing on at 16. Hit it in the
penalty area. And then really should have been a bogey at worst, but
messed up the second shot there, too."
Tied for eighth at 4-under 67 are Brian Gay, Stewart Cink, Northern
Ireland's Darren Clarke, Fijian Vijay Singh and Japan's Katsumasa
Miyamoto.
--Field Level Media
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