First round: Funk ruins Cook's comeback with 65

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Fred Funk conquered the hilly, hot and windy East Course at The Broadmoor on Thursday.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The only thing that spoiled John Cook's comeback was Fred Funk's finish.

Cook, who lost a big lead on the back nine at the Senior British Open on Sunday, played a practice round with Greg Norman at The Broadmoor's East Course this week to prepare for the U.S. Senior Open and to commiserate over their respective final-round failures across the Atlantic.

Norman couldn't hold on to the 54-hole lead at the British Open two weeks ago.

All that pity paid off Thursday when Cook carded a 4-under 66, which was good for the clubhouse lead for most of the day until Funk birdied the 16th and 17th holes to go 6 under before three-putting the final hole and finishing at 5-under 65.

Funk had two birdies and an eagle on the first four holes of a spectacular round that was bogey-free until the 18th hole.

"Obviously, I got off to a ridiculously good start," Funk said. "It was a good day. You can't be displeased with a 65 on this course -- or any course."

Four players were tied for third place at 1 under: Morris Hatalsky, Eduardo Romero, Juan Quiros and Tom Kite.

To read the remainder of this story, click here.

Trivia question

This player, who's serving as the honorary chairman of the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor, had this to say before the tournament about his U.S. Open trophies. "We've got to get a third (U.S. Senior Open) one, you bet. That shelf at home has three on one side and two on the other. It's a little cockeyed. So we're trying to even it up (this week)." Who is he?

Thursday's Best

EASIEST HOLE TOUGHEST HOLE The par-5, 601-yard third hole ranked the easiest with a 4.871 scoring average. EAGLES: 7 BIRDIES: 37 PARS: 84 BOGEYS: 25 OTHERS: 3 The 501-yard, par-4 10th was the hardest with a 4.628 scoring average. EAGLES: 0 BIRDIES: 6 PARS: 66 BOGEYS: 70 OTHERS: 14

SHOT OF THE DAY ROUND OF THE DAY John Cook decided to risk it and aimed at the flag on No. 6. That decision proved to be a bad one, as his second shot hit the pin then bounced off the green at the 402-yard par-4 sixth hole. He then pitched his third from the first cut of rough about 18 feet from the hole and watched it fall into the cup for a birdie and a share of the lead at that point. Fred Funk teed off in the afternoon on one of the hottest days on record in Colorado. The greens firmed up and the winds picked up, but Funk still managed a 5-under 65. With two birdies and an eagle, Funk moved to 4 under after just four holes but waited until No. 16 to take the lead with a birdie, birdied the 17th for good measure but then dropped a stroke at the last.

Quote of the Day, Part I

"I don't know what kind of veterans we are, crafty, crusty,...both. Yeah, it still hurts. There's no doubt, it has to. That's what we are out here to do; we are out here to win. When you have championships within your grasp, and they kind of slip through, it hurts a little bit. You try to figure out what the heck happened, and so the next time you're better prepared for it." -- John Cook, on losing the Senior British Open after bogeying the final hole to fall into a playoff last week then going down on the first extra hole

Quote of the Day, Part II

"By the time you do your calculations and try to figure out whether it's 20 percent or 30 percent or 18 percent, and by the time you do the math in your head and then you have to figure out what shot you want to hit, it's a brain drain...Four or five yards out is a lot here, and sometimes you can misjudge it by four or five yards and have to chip it four or five yards down the hole which is near impossible." -- Greg Norman, echoing the sentiment of many players as he explains how difficult it is to calculate ball flight due to the higher altitude

NEWCOMER HALLBERG FINDS SUCCESS QUICKLY
By Lauren Deason, PGATOUR.COM Editorial Coordinator

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Don't mention that ugly, dreaded "C" word to Gary Hallberg.

Hallberg

Cut. Hallberg shudders at the sound of it.

"Looking back over my career, I think I had handcuffs on knowing that if you don't make the cut, you don't get paid," Hallberg said, and then offered this hypothetical situation.

"You're out there and you're in 12th place with five holes to go. You make one bogey and all of the sudden you're in 37th place. Now you've got a hard hole and you miss the green. If you don't get up and down, you miss the cut. And I'd played great, almost top 10, then hit two bad shots that were not even bad shots.

"You miss the cut. You go home."

Hallberg thinks the Champions Tour's no-cut policy explains a lot about his recent play. Since turning 50 on May 31, he has had a runner-up finish plus three top-16s in just five events.

And after the first round of the U.S. Senior Open, Hallberg again finds himself near the top thanks to a 1-under 69 on the East Course at The Broadmoor.

Wait a second, though. Does he know that the Senior Open has a cut this week?

To read the remainder of this story, click here.

THE SECRETS TO PLAYING THE BROADMOOR
By Lauren Deason, PGATOUR.COM Editorial Coordinator

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- There's a secret to playing the East Course at The Broadmoor and the Champions Tour players are willing to let you in on it.

Watson

The Will Rogers Memorial Shrine of the Sun is an 80-foot observation tower that sits high on the side of Cheyenne Mountain. From the top of the tower, visitors can view all of Colorado Springs and look down upon The Broadmoor resort at the base of the mountain.

It's a great history lesson, no doubt, but what does this have to do with the U.S. Senior Open this week? When Penrose constructed the shrine, he also created a way for players to navigate some of the fastest, curviest and most unpredictable greens this side of the Mississippi.

"The main thing to know [is] the Will Rogers monument up there, and keeping the ball on the other side of the flagstick from the monument. And that's pretty simple logic," Tom Watson said. "It's right-on logic really."

Most putts break away from Cheyenne Mountain, but two greens are a tad bit tricky. R.W. Eaks said that, on the 17th green and one other -- he's not giving away all of his secrets -- putts actually break more into the mountain than away from it.

To learn more about The Broadmoor, click here.

SECOND CHANCE

Depending on how you view it, Dave Delich is either very lucky or very unlucky.

He was a star hockey player at Colorado College and earned a spot on several U.S. national teams. He traveled the world in the late 1970s, playing everywhere from the Soviet Union -- when the "Iron Curtain" still existed -- to Tokyo to Europe for the American squad.

Delich even practiced with the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. For seven months before the Olympics in February, Delich and the 24 others on the roster worked as hard as they could for the late coach Herb Brooks.

Here's the unlucky part. Brooks had to cut the roster from 25 men to 20. Though Delich is in most of the team pictures and worked out all winter with the team, he didn't make it to the actual Olympics for the infamous "Miracle on Ice" when the U.S. upset the Soviet squad.

"I've never felt one ounce of regret or should have been there," Delich said. "You're picking a team with 20 guys and, they do this in golf all the time, these Walker Cup captains, and it's not easy and you just go with your gut. I'm just thankful that they had the right guys there at that time to win. It was an incredible event."

Not many people get a second shot at glory. But Delich is lucky because he gets that chance this week. He's a member of The Broadmoor, qualified for the event and shot 76 in the first round. To play for a national championship, at his home course, in front of his family and friends, with his brother Chuck on the bag -- it's a dream come true.

"It was unbelievable," Delich said after his first round. "I expected obviously some family out there and a few friends, but it appears that nobody was working in Colorado Springs this morning. It was a lot of fun."

A TOUGH DAY

The first-round scoring average at Oak Hill Country Club for this year's Senior PGA Championship was 76.858 (+6.858), the highest for an opening round on the Champions Tour this year. The first-round scoring average last week at Royal Troon for the Senior British Open Championship was 76.563 (+5.563), the second highest for a first round in 2008.

Here's how this year's first round compares to past U.S. Senior Opens:

STRANGEST SIGHT OF THE DAY

There were eagles, birdies and one very peculiar goose on the course in the first round at The Broadmoor.

Cook

At the 4th green, a large crowd had gathered to watch John Cook, Craig Stadler and Mark O'Meara. Apparently one goose wanted a front row seat to see Cook, then the tournament leader, in action.

On No. 4, a 163-yard par-3 hole, players have to hit their tee shot over a large pond. One goose swam around in the pond while four others sat on the hill between the pond and the 4th green. While three of the geese kept their heads in the grass, pecking for food, the fourth craned its neck to catch Cook's putt.

After Cook's birdie putt missed, the goose turned toward the 3rd fairway -- which was also visible from the pond -- and watched another group hit their approach shots into the green.

As if that weren't strange enough, it pivoted its neck back in the direction of the 4th green and watched Cook and Stadler make par.

No word on whether it later stopped by the Grey Goose hospitality tent near the 18th hole for a drink.

Trivia answer

Hale Irwin. Thanks to his ties to Colorado and his past USGA success, the two-time U.S. Senior Open champion (1998 and 2000) was invited to be the honorary chairman in 2008. He won the U.S. Open three times (1974, 1979, 1990), which explains why his trophy case is looking a little lopsided. He's tied for 58th after the first round.