Barlow fires 61 to grab spotlight

Victoria Sun

Thursday, Oct. 14, 1999 | 11:22 a.m.

The way PGA Tour player Craig Barlow sees it, sitting atop the leaderboard after the first round of a golf tournament doesn't mean much if you're not there the final day.

He might be right, but that doesn't diminish the fact that he leapfrogged the 143 others in the field in the first round of the $2.5 million Las Vegas Invitational on Wednesday to take the lead.

Barlow, a Henderson resident and Basic High School graduate, shot an 11-under-par 61 to tie a course record at the Las Vegas Country Club and mark his career best in a round. He birdied nine holes and eagled the par-5 10th to start the day.

Eight players including Summerlin resident Bob May, Fred Couples, Billy Mayfair, Andrew Magee and PGA Tour rookie Joe Ogilvie shot 9-under-par 63 to tie for second place.

Ogilvie and Mayfair were at the TPC; Couples, who birdied 11 holes, and Magee, the 1991 LVI champion, were at the LVCC. May played at the D.I.

Also at 63 were Brian Henninger, Jonathan Kaye and Brian Watts. Kaye had a hole-in-one on No. 17 at TPC.

May, who earlier this summer won the British Masters on the European Tour, said he expected a close tournament.

"I played well," May said. "I hit the ball good and made some putts. I hit all 18 greens so it was a pretty good consistent day.

"I don't really pay attention to the leaderboard. With the quality of field you have here it's not surprising. There was little wind, the golf courses are in great shape and the greens are good."

Frank Lickliter, who eagled all four of the par-5s at LVCC, and Lee Rinker, also at LVCC, shot 8-under-par 64, good for third place.

But this was Barlow's day.

By any standards, it was an outstanding day. But there was no overzealous celebration among Barlow and his family and friends after he walked off the course, just a few hugs and congratulations.

"I try not to think about if I play well I'm gonna win," Barlow said. "I just know if I go out there and play the golf I'm capable of playing, obviously good things could happen and they did happen.

"The next four days I'll probably feel some pressure, but I'm gonna stay as aggressive as I can and be as patient as I can. There's still a lot of golf left.

"I'm thrilled to death to shoot the round I shot today. But come Sunday, if my name's still atop the leaderboard then I'll get happy."

One player who had plenty to be happy about was Ogilvie.

The 25-year-old missed his first six cuts to start the year. Since then, he has made 12 cuts with his best finish coming at the Motorola Western Open, where he tied for ninth.

Entering the LVI, he was 148th on the PGA Tour's money list with $219,016.

But for a reason even Ogilvie can't explain, it took longer than he expected to feel like he belonged in the same locker room with guys like Couples, Phil Mickelson and Tom Watson.

Sitting in one of the few press conferences he has participated in as a PGA Tour professional, Ogilvie told a tale of freshman woes.

At the beginning of the year at the SONY Open in Hawaii, he was playing a practice round when up walked Tom Watson, Steve Elkington and Jeff Maggert. Ogilvie said the threesome walked onto the first tee and he was a nervous wreck.

Slowly, though, he managed to get over the jitters.

"Now I feel as if I know every player out here," he said. "I mean know them well enough to say hello, (and) they say hello to me.

"Although it shouldn't have taken six months to eight months to feel comfortable around them, it's taken me that long. Now I feel, (after) the past couple of weeks, like I'm one of the guys. Even though that doesn't matter on the golf course, I guess that kind of matters maybe down inside."

If Ogilvie had any lingering doubts about his talent before Wednesday, they should now be erased.

He birdied nine holes en route to his career low round and, surprisingly, gave the credit to colleague Chip Beck.

Beck shot a 59 at the LVI in 1991 at the Sunrise Golf Club to become only the second player in PGA Tour history to shoot under 60.

Ogilvie said he and Beck played their first practice round together and that Beck helped him believe in himself.

"I think he really helped me," Ogilvie said. "Here's a guy who was once one of the top players in the country, now struggling to make a cut.

"I've never played with a guy that was more positive on the golf course, just happy to be out there. I think he really helped me. Just how impressed he was with my game, saying that I had the ability to win.

"He really gave me a lot of confidence."

Ogilvie will need it if he plans on winning the marathon 90-hole event which always produces a ton of low scores.

After the first round, only four players shot over par. But with newfound confidence, Ogilvie shouldn't have too many problems the rest of the week.

"I just want to go out and shoot four under," he said. "Coming into the week, I wanted to shoot 20-under.

"I know that wouldn't win, but it'd be a good solid tournament. He (Beck) told me I should win the tournament. If I'm in a position to win on Sunday, I'm going to draw from it."