Sam Torrance wielded his long putter with near perfection to take the first-round lead at the $2 million, rain-interrupted Subaru Sarazen World Open in Atlanta, Georgia yesterday. "It's the best putting round I have had, probably ever," said the earthy Scot, who made six of his seven birdies from 15 feet or longer on the smooth, soft Chateau Elan greens.
Torrance's four-under-par 68 in cold, damp, Scottish-like conditions gave him a one-stroke lead over Fiji's Vijay Singh and American David Duval.
American Steve Jones and Argentina's Angel Cabrera were also three-under after nine and six holes respectively when play was halted for the day in fading light.
They were among half of the 108-man field unable to complete the round due to a morning rain delay of three hours, 20 minutes.
Paul McGinley shot 72 to be in touch going into the second round. McGinley, who triumphed in the Oki Pro-Am in Spain a fortnight ago, picked up two birdies through six holes to lie one shot behind Australia's Wayne Reilly when heavy rain lashed the course. But no sooner had McGinley joined Wayne Reilly at the top of the leaderboard when he dropped a shot at the difficult par four 16th.
Not only did Torrance not mind the challenging conditions, he positively embraced them. "I love days like this when you have to concentrate," he said. "Good rounds have been few and far between this year."
His outstanding putting performance was marred only by a threeputt bogey at the first hole, where he missed a tiddler of barely a foot.
"It was the shortest putt I have ever missed with the long putter," he said. "It wasn't a lack of concentration. I pulled it. (Other than that) I putted beautifully. The greens are absolutely perfect."
Torrance has endured a disappointing year. He failed to qualify for the European Ryder Cup team before finishing 56th on the European Tour money list.
"I really do miss winning tournaments, being in contention," said Torrance, who has won 20 European PGA events, but none since winning the Irish Open, Italian Open and British Masters in 1995.
"That's what has been missing this year - good first rounds," he added.
Britain's Edward Fryatt and Stephen Field led a group at 70 that also included Australia's Robert Allenby and Wayne Riley.
European Ryder Cup member Lee Westwood, Craig Stadler, David Duval, Clinton Whitelaw, Steve van Vuuren of South Africa and Spain's Ignacio Feliu were at 71 while another Valderrama hero Ian Woosnam was at 73.
Hoch, meanwhile, used a new ball, new driver and new putter on his way to three birdies and no bogeys in perhaps the day's steadiest performance.
