Bryant in swing of things at start of Constellation Senior Players Championship
Balls rolled sweetly off his putter, and Texan Bart Bryant flashed a smile as wide as his home state.
Life, at least for a day, was good.
Maybe his opening round of 6-under 66 in the Constellation Senior Players Championship is a start for the 55-year-old from Gatesville, Texas, who has experienced rough times on and off the golf course in the last year. Or maybe Thursday's performance is just a continuation of his final round in Madison last month.
"I made all the putts I was supposed to make, hit my wedges well," Bryant said after tallying just 25 putts at Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park, where the Champions Tour is hosting its fourth of five majors this season.
Bryant is 1 shot behind co-leaders Kenny Perry and Illinois men's golf head coach Mike Small, and he is tied for third with Glen Day and Jeff Maggert. Five golfers are at 5 under, including defending champ Scott McCarron.
"Overall, Bryant added, "it was just a really good, solid round."
In April of last year, Bryant's wife of 34 years, Cathy, lost her fight with brain cancer. His golf game struggled.
"I think I handled life pretty well," Bryant said. "I didn't handle golf very well."
A three-time winner on PGA Tour who last won in 2005 (season-ending Tour Championship), Bryant tied for second in Insperity Invitational in Houston in May, despite not putting well the entire tournament, he said. At the American Family Insurance Championship at University Ridge in Madison, Wis., last month, he tied for 35th but closed with a 66 after changing putters.
The night before his final round, he visited a local Dick's Sporting Goods and bought an Odyssey two-ball putter.
"I hadn't changed putters in forever," said Bryant, who had been swinging a Bobby Grace model since 2004. "My caddie and I were having dinner (after the second round) and he goes, 'We got to do something.' I go, 'Let's go buy a putter.'"
Bryant carded 7 birdies on Thursday and made his only bogey on the par-4 18th after losing his tee shot to the left. He and playing partners Tom Byrum (5 under) and Scott Dunlap (2 under) teed off at 7:56 a.m., the second group out. Bryant, who shot 4 under on the front, called the first nine holes "stadium golf" before the winds kicked up.
"The greens were still very receptive," Bryant said. "I think that's why you're seeing some low scores. If it firms up a little bit toward the weekend, I think it can play a little tougher. But today you were able to go at the pins."
Putting will continue to be the key going forward for Bryant, who ranks second on the senior tour in driving accuracy. He sits 40th in the Charles Schwab Cup.
"For me, (putting) is the X Factor," he said. "Finally I saw some putts go in."
Great day for Day:
Glen Day, who beat Payne Stewart in the 1999 MCI Classic for his only PGA Tour win, played in the threesome right behind Bart Bryant. The 52-year-old Day fired a bogey-free 66, despite driving into a bunker on his first shot of the day.
On the par-3 eighth hole, he pulled a 3 iron and nearly holed it.
"It should have never gone close to the pin," Day said. "But it worked out. It was just one of those days. I got the good break. The bad days when you don't play well that ball's one step shorter, it bounces straight up, it rolls in the bunker, you hit it out and you make a bogey. You got to accept the goods when they come."
Stryker military appreciation:
During Friday's second round, U.S. Marine Corps veteran Tyler Leonard will discuss how his service dog helps him overcome the lasting effects of military-related trauma. He will be joined by Stuart Simpson, president of Stryker's Joint Replacement Division. Simpson will present a Stryker vest and $20,000 donation for the sponsorship of a service dog to Tim Crosby, Strategic Partnerships Manager for K9s For Warriors.
Stryker announced its partnership with K9s For Warriors in 2016, pledging to sponsor service canines as part of its PGA Tour program, as well as make a donation for every Stryker hat purchased - the same style hat worn by Fred Funk on tour.
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