COLORADO SPRINGS — Today’s trivia question: Phil Mickelson, David Duval and Bryce Molder are in select company with whom?
Those who answered Castle Rock resident Gary Hallberg should treat themselves to a sleeve of golf balls.
That foursome is composed of the only players to be named first-team All-American four straight years. Hallberg, a Chicago-area native, earned that distinction at Wake Forest and won three times during his first 13 years on the PGA Tour.
Then his game all but disappeared. Hallberg lost his exempt playing privileges in the late 1990s and couldn’t finish higher than No. 227 on the money list during his last nine years. But a funny thing happened after Hallberg turned 50 on May 31 and joined the Champions Tour. He became a player again.
“My confidence is better, and I’m putting better,” Hallberg said Thursday after a 1-under-par 69.
Hallberg’s two top-10 finishes this summer on the Champions Tour are his first since the 2002 Nationwide Tour. He credits his recent success to his work with Dennis Murray, head golf instructor at The Ridge at Castle Pines North. “Dennis knows my swing and he has great eyes for it,” Hallberg said. “And he keeps me in the present tense.”
Rough go for local qualifiers.
Colorado Golf Club caddie Audie Dean had hoped to finish the first two rounds at even par but shot an 11-over-par 81 on Thursday. Amateur Dave Delich of Colorado Springs, a former Colorado College hockey star who almost made the gold-medal winning 1980 U.S. Olympic team, also struggled, finishing 6-over on his home course.
Understandably nervous, Del- ich was just happy to get his first tee shot airborne. “I told Russ Miller, our director of golf, that I might be the first guy to roll one 80 yards down the fairway,” Del- ich said.
Footnotes.
Mark Wiebe of Cherry Hills Village hit just seven of 14 fairways and shot 75. He had four bogeys on the back nine. “When you miss fairways, you’re at the mercy of the golf course,” said his son, Gunner, a University of San Diego golfer who is carrying Mark’s bag. . . . What heat? Most players, especially those who live in Florida, Arizona or Texas, said they weren’t bothered by the mid-90s temperatures. “As long as you keep drinking water, you’re OK,” Florida resident Greg Norman said. . . . The cut after today’s round will be the low 60 scores and ties and all players within 10 strokes of the leader.
Tom Kensler, The Denver Post
