PARKER — It’s nice to get all those pats on the back as defending champ of the Senior PGA Championship, but Michael Allen felt like kicking himself Friday.
Allen bogeyed the 18th hole after driving into the rough to finish the second round with an even-par 72. Through 36 holes, he stands 1-under-par. That’s six strokes back of leader Fred Couples.
“I’ve got to get it going, but I may have given the guys too big a lead,” Allen said. “I’ve got kind of a sour feeling about today. I played better than I scored. I feel like I kind of ran out of gas at the end of the day.”
Allen, 51, putted from off the green for eagle on the par-5 16th but left the attempt 5 feet short. He missed the birdie try and had to settle for a three- putt par.
“It’s a long day out there, and the course is playing tough,” Allen said. “But I had myself set up for those last five holes (after a birdie on 13). That’s where you have to make your hay, and I just didn’t bring it in.”
In last year’s Senior PGA Championship at Canterbury Golf Club in Cleveland, Allen’s back-to-back 67s on the weekend were enough to edge the more-heralded Larry Mize by two strokes. Entering last year’s championship, Allen might have made only his wife’s list of “players to watch,” because he had failed to win any of his 334 starts on the PGA Tour.
But at Canterbury, Allen overcame an opening-round 74 and joined the legendary Arnold Palmer as the only players to win the Senior PGA Championship in their Champions Tour debut. Although Allen hasn’t challenged for the lead this week, his steady play at Colorado Golf Club suggests that his victory in Cleveland was no fluke.
The best part about being the defending champion is getting introduced on the first tee as such, Allen said, “and having more than just my wife and family knowing who I am and cheering for me.”
The other benefit is getting placed in a good pairing for the first two rounds. Allen got to play with Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw.
“Sure, I was kidding Ben about his course,” Allen said of the co-designer. “I did it all day. I’d say, ‘Ben. Why did you put that there?’ Or, ‘Why does the ball run off that way?’ You know Ben. He took it all in good fun.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
