What Happened
Brian Keenan sits at the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the 46th Florida Senior Open Championship, firing a 5-under 67 to take the first-round lead at Lakewood National Golf Club.
In total, 156 players teed it up on the Commander Course at Lakewood National.
Keenan, an amateur, got off to a hot start in the first round, carding a bogey-free front side with four birdies. The Tampa native added three more on the back side, including an unlikely birdie on the 13th. After hitting it in the penalty area, Keenan hit his second shot to eight feet from the trees and rolled it in for birdie.
He finished the day with a one-shot lead over the field.
Five players sit in a tie for second at 4-under 68: Stephen Stallings (a), Brian Armstrong (a), Matthew Markle, Mike McCoy (a), and Mike Finstern (a).
What’s Next
The second round of the Florida Senior Open Championship will begin on Tuesday with a cut to low 60 and ties following the second round.
Notable
- Twenty-one players finished the day at under-par or better.
- One of the players tied for second after the first round is Mike McCoy, the 2022 Senior Amateur champion and U.S. Walker Cup Captain.
- Gary Koch, the 2014 Florida Senior Open champion, sits in a tie for seventh at 3-under 69.
- Eight amateurs sit within the top-20 after the first round, with Keenan leading the way.
- Lakewood National (par 72) played to a 75.68 average score, with the par-4 11th hole playing the hardest with an average score of 4.79.
Quotable
“I played good. I got under par early and took advantage of the par-5’s – I birdied every one of them and two-putted for birdie on four of them. That helped a lot. I hit it pretty well and putted pretty good, so it was just one of those solid days.” – Brian Kennan on his first-round 67
“It was my last nine holes and my putter got hot. It was a very unusual, but very fun. I have to thank my son for that because he gave me a putting lesson two days ago and it payed off.” – Stephen Stallings on posting 31 on his final nine
“I haven’t played much; this is only my second round since January. I just kind of went and freewheeled it and fortunately I drove the ball pretty well. I didn’t do anything stupid and kept the ball in front of me, which is all you are really trying to do today.” – Matthew Markle on his first-round 68
“The old man here at 70 broke his age in competition. There haven’t been that many times that I’ve done that. I’m proud of a good round today. The wind came up in the afternoon and was quite a challenge.” – Gary Koch on his first-round 69
