PGA Tour veteran Guy Boros grabs 2-stroke lead at Colorado Senior Open; Willie Wood, another Tour winner, in hunt to add CSO title to Colorado Open win; Coloradans Jon Lindstrom, Steve Ivan tied for low-am
*****For the scores from the Inspirato Colorado Senior Open, CLICK HERE.*****
By Gary Baines – 8/25/2022
Guy Boros noted how relatively comfortable it is, weather-wise, this week in Denver compared to his home state of Florida. But there’s been nobody so hot at this week’s Inspirato Colorado Senior Open as the onetime PGA Tour winner.
Boros, the son of World Golf Hall of Famer Julius Boros, backed up a first-round 67 with a 4-under-par 68 on Thursday at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. Despite a double bogey on No. 10, where he hooked his tee shot into the penalty area, and missing a 4-foot par putt on No. 18, he’ll take a two-stroke lead into Friday’s final round of the CSO, where $18,000 will go to the winner.
“If I play like I have the last two days, I’ll have a pretty good chance,” said Boros, winner of the 1996 Greater Vancouver Open on the PGA Tour.
Through two rounds at GVR, Boros has racked up 13 birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey.
“I like the golf course,” the 57-year-old said. “It’s a fantastic facility for a public place. It’s really, really nice, it’s in great shape, and the greens are good.”
Boros finished fourth at the Colorado Senior Open in 2018. And now he’s looking for something even better.
“I played really good,” he said. “I’m hitting it good. I got a new (right) hip about a year and a half ago and it’s all healthy. Everything else hurts but at least that doesn’t hurt anymore. I’m putting better too. I went to the claw grip (about two weeks ago) and it seems to help my putting stroke with the short ones.
“Overall, I’m very happy the way I’m playing and putting.”
In his tour career, Boros has played 255 events on the PGA Tour and 41 on PGA Tour Champions, with a third place in the 2015 Boeing Classic being his best showing on the senior circuit. In Q-school last fall, Boros placed sixth in the finals, where five players earned their Champions Tour cards for 2022.
Four players share second place after two rounds, including Steve Schneiter of Sandy, Utah, whose career includes victories in both the national PGA Professional Championship and the Senior PGA Professional Championship. Schneiter has gone bogey-free through two rounds, with seven birdies while posting scores of 69-68.
“This is what we strive for (being in contention),” he said. “I feel like I’m getting there (with my game). I haven’t played much in the last few months. My mom passed away at the end of May. Just too many distractions.”
Joining Schneiter at 137 are fellow Utahn Joe Summerhays, part of the omnipresent Summerhays family (69-68); Kevin Dillen of Paris, Texas (69-68); and Jay Jurecic of Caspian, Mich. (68-69). Summerhays made five straight birdies in round 2.
Willie Wood Has Another State Open Trophy in His Sights: Only two golfers can lay claim to winning both the Colorado Open and the Colorado Senior Open in their careers: Coloradans Mike Zaremba and Bill Loeffler. But one player has a legitimate chance to join that elite fraternity on Friday.
Willie Wood, who not only won the Colorado Open in 1984 but was twice the low amateur in that event (1979 and ’83), posted the low round of this Colorado Senior Open so far, a 6-under-par 66 on Thursday. At 6 under overall, the 61-year-old from Edmond, Okla., sits three strokes behind leader Guy Boros, in a share of sixth place.
“It would be terrific (to win both events),” Wood said Thursday.
Wood, winner of one PGA Tour event and two PGA Tour Champions tournaments in his career, is playing in his first Colorado Senior Open. On Thursday, he went bogey-free, making four straight birdies in the middle of his round and six overall.
“I played much better today than yesterday (72),” Wood said. “I didn’t putt very well (Wednesday), but today I made a few putts. The greens are better in the morning, and I took advantage of it.
“It’ll be fun tomorrow to battle it out a little bit. I’ve known Guy for a long, long time.”
Wood has competed in 492 events on the PGA Tour and 176 on PGA Tour Champions, but sounds like his time as a tour player may soon be coming to an end.
“I’m kind of at the end of my rainbow,” her said. “I’m looking for another rainbow actually. Eleven years (on PGA Tour Champions) may be even better than average. I’m OK with that.”
John Elway Rallies, Then Falls Back and Misses the Cut: John Elway seemed poised for one of his patented comebacks, but on Thursday, he fell a little short of the mark.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback put himself in a big hole with a 6-over-par 78 in the opening round of the Senior Open. But he still made a legitimate run at making the 36-hole cut despite needing to move from 105th place, where he started the day, inside the top 50.
Alas, though the 62-year-old from Cherry Hills Village made an eagle on the par-5 12th and three birdies, he fell five short of advancing. With a second-round 74, he checked in at 8 over par overall.
After making the cut in each of his first three CSO appearances, the former Broncos QB and GM has failed to advance to the final round in his last two Senior Opens.
“I was all over the place (score-wise),” said Elway, whose Thursday round included an eagle, three birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey.
He crept within a shot or two of the cut line when he hit a 5-iron 221 yards downwind on the second hole (his 11th) and made a 2-foot eagle. Elway bogeyed the next, then drove it onto the green on the par-4 fourth and two-putted for birdie. But a double bogey on 5, where he missed a short putt, and bogeys on 7 and 9 foiled his hopes of playing in the final round.
“It felt better today,” he said. “But I was thinking about it: I made eight bogeys from inside 100 yards in two days. So that was it. It’s very frustrating. Like 18 (Thursday): I’ve got 100 yards in (and make bogey). I’ve got to do some rethinking on my wedges.”
Jon Lindstrom in the Hunt Again: Jon Lindstrom of Denver has earned low-amateur honors at the last two Colorado Senior Opens — and three of the last four. And he’s in good position to add to that list. In fact, the three-time CGA Mid-Amateur champion has an outside chance of making a run at the overall title at the CSO, where he’s placed sixth in 2018, second in a playoff in 2020 and fourth last year.
“I’ve had a couple of years where I’ve finished top five or six overall, so that’s kind of my goal,” Lindstrom said. “If the low am comes, great. There’s a lot of good players this year. They’re going low, so by no means is it a gimme.”
In the amateur competition, Lindstrom shares the top spot after rounds of 70-69 that included an eagle each day. Also at 5-under-par 139 is two-time CGA Senior Player of the Year Steve Ivan of Colorado Springs (67-72). Overall, Lindstrom and Ivan are tied for ninth place, four strokes back of leader Guy Boros.
Lindstrom turns 55 on Sept. 3, in time to make his debut in the CGA Senior Amateur Sept. 13-15 at Pelican Lakes in Windsor. Earlier this month, he won the individual senior title in the International Mid-Amateur & Senior Team and Individual Championship in South Carolina, carding scores of 66-72-74.
“There’s a lot of World Amateur Golf Ranking points, so it was kind of neat,” Lindstrom said.
Notable: In all, four Colorado residents are in the top 10 going into Friday’s final round. All are tied for eighth place at 5-under-par 139: Lindstrom, Ivan and Colorado PGA professionals Matt Schalk of Boulder (68-71) and Micah Rudosky of Cortez (67-72). … The 50 players at 3 over par or better after two rounds made the cut and will play on Friday. … Three-time PGA Tour winner Gary Hallberg of Longmont backed up his first-round 70 with an 8-over-par 80 and missed the 36-hole cut. He played the last six holes in 6 over. … The leaders will tee off for Friday’s final round at 9:33 a.m.
Colorado Golf Journal 