When R.W. Eaks fell into a fairway bunker in a PGA Tour event three years ago and badly injured his right hip, a player who hardly anyone had ever heard of was barely heard from again.
Eaks resurfaced yesterday in the 2002 U.S. Senior Open at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, his hip healed and his game better than it had ever been before in a major championship.
Playing in only his fifth Senior PGA Tour event since turning 50 last month, Eaks found a place for himself on top of the leader board and in the Senior Open record book.
His 7-under-par 64 was the competitive course record and tied Bruce Fleisher for the lowest opening round in Senior Open history. Eaks leads by three strokes over Hall of Famer Tom Watson.
"It's always nice to have your name somewhere," said Eaks, a five-time winner on the Buy.com Tour. "I really didn't think about it. I've never looked at the records for the Senior Open or anything like that. I'm kind of disappointed that I didn't shoot 63, actually."
Jose Maria Canizares of Spain and James Mason are four strokes behind. Despite making a triple bogey 7 on the par-4 18th hole, Isao Aoki of Japan was at 2-under 69 and tied with Fred Gibson and Jim Ahern.
At 1-under 70, Jim Thorpe and amateur Paul Simson were the only other players who broke par before play was suspended at 6:31 p.m. because of lightning.
Of the 31 players left on the course, former U.S. Open champion Tom Kite and Allen Doyle were 3-under through 16 holes. Don Pooley was 1-under through 16, while Walter Hall was 1-under through 15.
The round Eaks shot could have even been lower. After playing the more difficult back nine first in 4-under, Eaks started the front nine with two straight birdies and an eagle 3 on the par-5 third hole.
"I started thinking, man, maybe I can shoot 59 today," said Eaks. "And that was probably the wrong thing to do. But I think you've got to think that way if you're trying to shoot low. You can't try to back off; you've got to keep playing aggressive."
Except with Eaks, aggressive driving has often been a punishable offense and it was again yesterday. Though one of the longest drivers on the Senior Tour - at 296.1 yards a pop he would rank first if he played more tournaments - Eaks is also among the most erratic.
Twice in his last five holes, he hooked drives far left of the fairway. On the par-4 fifth hole, his tee shot ended up behind a corporate tent and he was lucky to get bogey after being allowed a free drop.
On the par-5 seventh, he nearly lost his drive in thick rough and bogeyed there, too, after taking a one-shot penalty for an unplayable lie.
"I let my ego get in the way on 7," Eaks said later. "I should have hit a 5-wood off the tee, short of the bunkers, laid down in the fairway, but I decided that I was going to try to hit over the right-hand bunker, probably about a 280-yard carry ... just a terrible golf hole."
Eaks came back to stick a 6-iron nine inches from the cup on the 196-yard, par-3 eighth hole and tap in for birdie. On the par-4 ninth hole, Eaks drove into the right rough and hit a nice recovery to the left collar, but he needed a 9-footer to save par and maybe a little face.
Eaks credited his caddie, who also happens to be his 17-year-old son, Jeremy, for helping him keep his game together at the end.
"I said the fun almost went out of the round because I was on such a nice high and I made that terrible bogey," said Eaks. "We were walking down 9 and I had hit a terrible drive. He goes, 'Well, we're still having fun, aren't we?'
"I said, 'You're right, we're having a great time.' It's such highs and lows to it, especially with my game. Because I can hit it off the map sometimes. And I've got to accept my bad shots and go on."
Or, sometimes, his bad luck.
When he injured himself at the 1998 Quad Cities Open, tearing the labrum muscle in his right hip, Eaks was playing some of the best golf of a rather non-descript PGA Tour career. He had his best finish earlier that year, a tie for seventh at the Hawaiian Open.
"Quad Cities, No. 16, left-hand bunker, 134 yards from the green," he recalled. "I wasn't paying any attention. I must have missed the [area to go] in and out that I went in by two or three feet. Instead of being six inches, it was about three feet. And it sounded like a shotgun blast. And that was it for me."
Just last week, Eaks had shot rounds of 63 and 64 during pro-ams before the Greater Baltimore Classic at nearby Hayfields Country Club. He started the first round with a birdie and then hit into the right rough. He hit a 6-iron approach to the green and would make another birdie.
"As I was walking to the green, my back went out," said Eaks. "I couldn't even bend over all week. It was disappointing because I thought I had a great chance."
He finished the tournament near the bottom, tied for 71st, his worst result in four events since joining the Senior Tour.
How long Eaks can hold onto his lead is open to debate. Eaks knows that he is just as capable of shooting himself out of contention.
Asked which player will show up today, Eaks said: "I hope the same one as [yesterday], because that was a lot of fun."
There were times during the past few years when Eaks didn't know whether he was going to ever play at this level again. A former college basketball player who started playing golf while rehabbing injuries at Northern Colorado, Eaks took some extra stress off the hip by losing 33 pounds through a no-sugar diet.
But the biggest anxiety reducer came the day he turned 50.
"You know, 50 was great," he said. "The only people that don't want to be 50 are the guys that are 49, you know. I waited three years to turn 50 because in August of 1998 when I was on the [PGA] Tour, I was probably playing the best I ever played.
"It's been a terrible struggle even trying to walk the last three years."
Coming back from oblivion can be tougher than climbing out of a bunker.
First round
The leader ...
R.W. Eaks 33-31-64
... and selected followers
Tom Watson 35-32-67
James Mason 35-33-68
Jose Maria Canizares 34-34-68
Isao Aoki 33-36-69
Jim Thorpe 36-34-70
Fuzzy Zoeller 36-36-72
Bobby Wadkins 34-38-72
Gil Morgan 36-36-72
Jim Dent 38-35-73
Raymond Floyd 37-36-73
Bruce Lietzke 34-40-74
Christy O'Connor Jr. 38-36-74
Bruce Fleisher 39-37-76
Arnold Palmer 41-41-82
Complete scores. [Page 9D]
Blazing start
R.W. Eaks shot a 7-under 64 yesterday to tie the record for first-round score at a U.S. Senior Open. Only three of the 11 previous best opening-round scores were by eventual tournament winners.
Golfer Year ... Course .............................................. Score .. Par ... Fin. .. To par
R.W. Eaks 2002 Caves Valley G.C. (Owings Mills) 64 ... 71
Bruce Fleisher 2000 Saucon Valley C.C. (Bethlehem, Pa.) 64 ... 71 ... 2nd ... -14
Hubert Green 2000 Saucon Valley C.C. (Bethlehem, Pa.) 65 ... 71 ... 5th .... -8
Dave Stockton 2000 Saucon Valley C.C. (Bethlehem, Pa.) 66 ... 71 ... T-6 .... -7
Hale Irwin 2000 Saucon Valley C.C. (Bethlehem, Pa.) 66 ... 71 ... 1st .... -17
Isao Aoki 2000 Saucon Valley C.C. (Bethlehem, Pa.) 66 ... 71 ... T-47 ... +8
Bob Charles 1996 Canterbury G.C. (Beachwood, Ohio) 66 ... 72 ... 7th .... -3
Jim Albus 1994 Pinehurst C.C. (Pinehurst, N.C.) 66 ... 72 ... T-2 .... -13
Simon Hobday 1994 Pinehurst C.C. (Pinehurst, N.C.) 66 ... 72 ... 1st ... -14
Peter Thomson 1987 Brooklawn C.C. (Fairfield, Conn.) 66 ... 71 ... T-10 ... -1
Gordon Jones 1987 Brooklawn C.C. (Fairfield, Conn.) 66 ... 71 ... T-14 ... +1
Dale Douglass 1986 Scito C.C. (Columbus, Ohio) 66 ... 71 .... 1st ..... -5