Now that’s a scorecard.
When Tournament of Champions veteran Luke Kane walked off the 18th hole with a par at Amarillo Country Club Thursday his 65th career TOC round showed a scorecard even the staunchest golfers have rarely put their eyes on.
Kane finished with a 4-under par 67 and will take a 2-stroke lead over Borger’s summer-long sizzling Tyler Paige heading into round two of the TOC Friday morning on Kane’s home course at Tascosa Golf Club.
Paige was a dominate force over the summer tournaments winning three. To nobody’s surprise he opened Thursday’s round birdie, birdie settling on a five-birdie, 3-bogey round of 69, lurking two shots behind Kane.
Sitting in third-place is Amarillo’s very own Andrew Brewer at even par, while fourth place and very much alive at 1 over is five-time TOC participant Stewart Dodson.
Brewer and Dodson tied for second in last year’s TOC.
Now, Kane’s 67 has been accomplished many a time over the years at ACC.
However, shooting a 67 with two eagles, four birdies, four bogeys and eight pars on the scorecard is a round of rarity.
“It was an interesting card,” said Kane, the 2018 TOC champion. “Sometimes it’s like that. I had a couple of 3-putts and I was putting aggressively. I mean the putter felt good so I felt like if I ran it by a little bit I could make it coming back. Sometimes that’s how it goes when you are putting aggressive you make some bogeys.
“I’ll take it. I thought today, like a couple under would be a really great round with the conditions being like they were … really fast greens and windy. Four-under? I’m tickled to death.”
Kane opened with a bogey on No. 1 when his putt attempt for a birdie went 6-7 feet past the hole and he missed the comeback putt.
But on his next swing at the par 3 No. 2 he left no doubt he was here to play sticking the shot within five feet and making birdie setting the stage for a wild ride on his scorecard.
“They have a stat for it,” Kane said. “It’s a bounce-back birdie. I mean when you come back with what was kind of a rough bogey on number one and not a great putt. To bounce back and get a birdie it’s like nothing happened.”
Kane’s eagle 3 on the par 5 No. 9 was a highlight when he smoked a 3-wood some 240 yards on the green and the ball took a peek at the hole, leaving him a simple tap-in for eagle. Kane’s impressive second shot came very close to being the first albatross in the 31 years of the prestigious TOC.
“Man, I saw what my playing partner kinda hit and thought that is playing longer,” Kane said. “I mean I went ahead and hit 3-wood and that’s usually a distance way too short for a 3-wood at 240 into the wind. I flushed it. I knew it was going to be good, just not that good.”
Kane then used Mr. Momentum the tap-in eagle to shoot a 33 over the back nine leaving him two shots ahead of Paige.
Crazy thing is, about a month ago Kane was not a likely participant in his 17th TOC as he slipped on some stairs before a mid-July tournament at Tascosa CC and hurt a shoulder.
Kane qualified for the TOC late in the summer by winning the Tascosa men’s club championship on Aug. 3 as he revised his golf swing. Instead of finishing high in the air on his follow thru, Kane made his swing shorter and more compact to help avoid causing pain in his shoulder, one he will have looked at this fall by a doctor.
“People who know my swing know it looks a little different from what I’ve always done,” Kane said. “I have learned to kind of get my body thru a little more and not finish quite so high. Honestly guys, to even be in the TOC this year feels amazing. And to be leading and shooting a round like this today where I hit like 15 greens in regulation in these conditions, I’m just outside of myself so happy.”
The 11 players in the field saw an ACC course in remarkable condition considering the brutal hail storm that hit the course a few days ago leaving twigs and leaves galore. Three of the 11 golfers said the greens were the fastest they had ever seen at ACC but were simply perfect the way they rolled.
Rounding out the scoring after the top four on this opening day were: tied in fifth place at 2-over defending TOC champion Max Mitchell and ACC MGA MT Johnson Club champ Drew Baccus; seventh place at 5-over is Ian Ansett playing in his first TOC: tied in 8th place at 6-over is two-time TOC champion Zack Norrell and 5-time TOC participant Kent Neal; in 10th at 12-over is first-time TOC participant Brock Schroeder; and in 11th place at 26-over is Rebel Aistrup who qualified for the TOC by winning the Street Toyota Senior Charity Classic.
These 11 golfers will determine the 2025 TOC champion by playing 18-hole rounds over the next three days on three different courses: Friday at Tascosa Golf Club-Tascosa Course; Saturday at Commanche Trail-Arrowhead; Sunday at Ross Rogers-Mustang.
Check out the results
For a look at the leaderboard and all the Coors Tournament of Champions information, please visit: https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/11895165198715105233
Photo gallery by James Abel:
