Michael Allen matched the Champions Tour record by posting a 12-under-par 60 to take a three-stroke lead over Scott Dunlap after one round of the Allianz Championship on the Old Course at Broken Sound in Boca Raton, Fla.
Allen, from San Mateo and the University of Nevada Reno, had identical nine-hole scores of 30, carding four birdies and an eagle at No. 18 after starting on the 10th hole, before ringing up six more birdies while finishing on the front nine.
The 55-year-old Allen became the ninth player on the Champions Tour to shoot 60 and the first to do it on a par-72 course. He broke the course record of 61 set by Rocco Mediate in round two last year.
“It seemed really easy,” said Allen, who has won five times on the senior tour after being winless in 369 starts on the PGA Tour. “I think it’s harder to shoot a 72 when you’re struggling than to shoot a 60 when you’re playing well. It’s great to shoot this round, but if I’m able to win, then it will become even more magical.”
Dunlap, 50, playing in his second event on the senior circuit, also started on the back nine and began a string of four consecutive birdies at No. 18 before capping off the run with an eagle on the fourth hole in his round of 63.
Tom Lehman, who has seven titles on the senior circuit, made one bogey in a 65 to tie for third with Wes Short Jr. and Chien Soon Lu of Taiwan, who posted five straight birdies through No. 7.
John Cook bounced back from a double-bogey 6 on the second hole with five consecutive birdies through No. 8 to shoot 66 and was tied for sixth with Brad Bryant, who finished birdie-birdie-eagle.
Defending champion Mediate opened with a 69.
