Mark Calcavecchia leads Champions Tour’s Boeing Classic by three strokes
Mark Calcavecchia fired a seven-under par 65 in the opening round of the Boeing Classic and took the outright lead at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge in Snoqualmie, on Friday, August 24, 2012.
Calcavecchia made a strong charge early in the round, as he recorded three birdies and a sparkling eagle on the front nine for a five-under par score.
"Had that not gone in, I still would have made birdie and been 4 under," he said. "It went in, which is great. Then, like I always do, I tried to stay aggressive, keep making birdies and shoot low as I could".
Another four birdies against two bogeys allowed him to settle three strokes better than a pack of five players.
Despite posting a great score on the leaderboard, he was a little disappointed with the way he finished his round. The par-five 18th hole is among the easiest holes in Snoqualmie and Calcavecchia putted that for a bogey.
"Taking a 6 on an easy 5 kind wrecked an otherwise great day," he said. "I had a great score but you hate doing that. All in all, I played great, hit a lot of great shots".
Overall, he played brilliantly and remained consistent throughout the round. He had an average of 286 off the tee and was tied for the 28th position in driving distance.
Moreover, his iron shots were almost perfect and he hit about 83 per cent of the greens in regulation – the third best in the field.
He now holds the biggest first-round lead ever in the eight-year history of the tournament and the largest in the current Champions Tour season.
Therefore, he seemed really happy with his performance on day one and plans to keep the momentum going into the second round.
"My first rounds lately haven't been very good," Calcavecchia said. "So I rectified that situation at least a little bit”.
Despite all that, the only worrying factor that can affect Calcavecchia psychologically is that the first-round leader never won this tournament in the past.
So, he must focus on his own game rather than focusing on history. Otherwise, the pressure can take him out of contention in the final moments of the tournament.
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