After long road to over-50 golf, Roy determined to stay

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Jim Roy barely survived Champions Tour q-school to earn his card for the 2010 season.

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Late in the round, Jim Roy saw an unusual name on the leader board in Friday's first round of the Allianz Championship.

His own.

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Roy's scorecard

"It was exciting to see my name on the first page of the leaderboard," Roy said.

Roy's 6 under 66 was good enough for a fifth-place tie, two shots behind co-leaders Tom Jenkins and Jay Haas. Roy's 66 seemed like a 56 after the way he struggled during his Champions Tour debut last week in Naples, where he shot rounds of 78, 77 and 76.

Hey, at least he's improving, although that trend will be difficult to continue in Saturday's second round.

Roy admitted he was nervous and intimidated last week in Naples. Then again, who wouldn't be? Even though he was a member of the PGA TOUR in 1983, Roy has spent the last 14 years dominating the central New York amateur scene after regaining his amateur status in 1996.

Now he's playing against Hall of Famers, and that's not the only adjustment he's had to make.

"I'm not used to playing in front of this many people," he said, gesturing to the galleries at Broken Sound. "It's been 27 years since I played in any kind of arena like this."

You wouldn't have known it the way he chipped in twice for eagles in a six-hole stretch on his back nine. After the second hole-out, he raised his palms and shrugged his shoulders the way Michael Jordan once did after he made a series of three-pointers.

"That was a lot of fun," Roy said. "After last week, I was hoping for anything under par just to see if I could get somewhat comfortable. I got back to thinking about score and not worrying about the other stuff about being out on a tour like this."

Roy said he has no idea if he can win this week, but he knows who won the Allianz Championship last year -- Mike Goodes, another longtime amateur who had a breakthrough victory here at Broken Sound. Roy even sought out Goodes at a pro-am party earlier this week for some advice. Goodes had a simple suggestion.

"Just play golf," he said. "Every tournament will get a little easier for him, just like it did for me. You can't get caught up with who you're playing with or who's leading. The golf course isn't new. The golf ball isn't new. The golf clubs aren't new. He wouldn't be out here if he wasn't a good player."

It's not easy to get out here -- Roy had to make a 7-foot putt in sudden death to beat two others at Q-school for the final exempt spot. When the putt dropped, so did Roy, a la Ben Crenshaw after he won his second Masters.

It's not easy to stay out here, either. A player doesn't have much time to make the adjustment. Roy admitted he was a little grouchy before his round because of nerves. Knowing about 30 friends from his hometown of Syracuse were following him probably didn't help -- at least not until he started making some birdies and eagles.

"It has been a little surreal," said Cheryl, his wife of 25 years. "There's so many stars out here and it's like 'Who are we?' But today's round will definitely help Jim. He just needs to get his feet wet.."

Roy went from grouchy to giddy in 66 strokes. He found a young fan after the round who wanted his autograph. He remembered seeing the boy before both of his chip-ins.

"You're my good-luck charm," Roy said, smiling. "What are you doing tomorrow? You want to stay at my place tonight?"

For this day, at least, Roy proved he belongs on the Champions Tour. Now comes the more difficult part.

"I want to have this job for more than a year," he said.