Roberts one up on Romero at Commerce Bank Championship  EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (AP) -- Loren Roberts and Eduardo Romero have been seeing their names next to each other a lot lately on leaderboards, and it's not just for alphabetical reasons.  Eduardo Romero finds himself right behind Loren Roberts again. (Mike Ehrmann/WireImage)
Roberts, who leads the Champions Tour in scoring average, had his low round of the year, a 7-under 64 Friday, to take a one-stroke lead over Romero after the first round of the Commerce Bank Championship. Roberts' only Tour win this year saw Romero finish second and the two met in a playoff in last year's Senior British Open with Roberts winning that, too. "Eduardo has great hands and great feel," Roberts said. "He just goes out and plays and doesn't worry about mechanics and that's the way to play." Romero called Roberts "one of the best players in the world." That they got the opportunity to resume their recent rivalry Friday was a surprise to many. A powerful thunderstorm passed right over the Red Course at Eisenhower Park on Thursday night, damaging a few trees and knocking down a scoreboard and a hospitality tent just behind the 18th green. Crews worked through the night, and Friday's round got off on time. "They did a remarkable job of getting the course in shape. It didn't even look like it rained," Roberts said of the county-owned facility. "Those guys must have worked their tails off last night." He didn't get off to a quick start Friday, making the turn at 2 under, but he had five birdies in his last eight holes on the 7,021-yard course to better his yearly average by almost five strokes. Roberts, who is tied for the Tour lead in putting average at 1.706, needed only 29 putts and reached all but one green in regulation. "The only one I missed was No. 8 when I spun a wedge back off the green so I'm counting that I made them all," said Roberts, who hit 13 of 14 fairways. "I was able to play aggressively with my irons, more than I had been, and I hit some quality shots." Romero was also strong with his irons as the longest of his six birdie putts was from seven feet. "I missed a couple of short ones, too, or it could have been 62 or 63," Romero said, "but it was a 65 and I am happy with where I am with two rounds to go." Lonnie Nielsen, who has one top-10 finish this season, was at 66. Jay Haas, who won the last two weeks on Tour and has four wins this year, was at 67 along with Brad Bryant, Morris Hatalsky, Des Smyth, Tom McKnight and defending champion John Harris. Bruce Fleisher, a two-time winner of this tournament, was among 10 golfers at 68. Roberts and Romero both are coming off breaks in their schedules.
Roberts won The Boeing Championship at Sandestin in early June, played one week on the PGA TOUR then took the last two weeks off. Romero came off a three-week break spent in his native Argentina. Both are looking toward next week's U.S. Senior Open, the second of the Champions Tour's five majors this year and the first of three in a five-week period. "With all those majors coming, a little rest helped," Roberts said. "I feel fresh and ready to go." Romero, who has a win and two seconds in his last three majors, smiled when the Open was mentioned. "I like the majors. My concentration is different and one is coming next week," he said. The last major on the PGA TOUR was the U.S. Open and it was won by Angel Cabrera, Romero's protege from the same small town in Argentina. "I talked last night to Cabrera and he is still in Buenos Aires celebrating," Romero said. Divots: The winner will receive $225,000 from a purse of $1.5 million. ... Sam Torrance aced the 161-yard 5th hole with a 7-iron in his 71. It was the 11th hole-in-one in the 19 years this event had been played and the seventh in the last five years. ... Nielsen had the round's longest measured drive, 306 yards on the 454-yard 15th. He bogeyed the hole. ... Bruce Vaughan, who had a hole-in-one in his qualifying round Tuesday and another in a practice round the same day, finished with an aceless 70. ... Tom Jenkins, who lost to Harris in a playoff here last year, opened with a 1-over 72. Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. |
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