67-Year-Old Wargo Shoots 65; Shares Lead in Montreal Championship

Tom Wargo and Russ Cochran each fired 7-under 65s at Club de Golf Fontainebleau to tie for the opening-round lead in the inaugural Montreal Championship, a $1.8 million Champions Tour event at Club de Golf Fontainebleau.

Wargo, a 67-year-old from Michigan with four wins on the senior circuit - his last in 2000 in the LiquidGolf.com Invitational, carded seven birdies and no bogeys in his outstanding effort Friday in the 54-hole event. Cochran, a left-hander from Kentucky who's still seeking his first Champions Tour victory, had eight birdies and a bogey.

Six players posted 66s, including Americans James Mason, Jay Don Blake, Joey Sindelar, John Cook, Jay Haas and Tom Purtzer. A large group was two strokes back at 67, while an even bigger set of players opened with 68s, including 2010 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Cory Pavin.

Wargo carded nines of 34-31, shooting his best round since the 2007 Boeing Championship near Seattle, also a 65, in bettering his age for the first time on the Champions Tour.

When asked about the significance of shooting under his age, the down-to-earth pro said: "It's not (significant) - it is, but then it's not. To some people it is but all you're trying to do is put a score on the board and whatever it is, if it's low and it matches your age, that's something to yap about I guess. I've shot my age at home, but competitively, this is my first one. Still, won't count when I shot 63 in the Super Seniors one year, but other than that, no.

"Nice to have one on the board because I haven't been playing very good. I'm going to retire. Matter of fact, I took retirement this year so I'm only going to be allowed to play 11 this year, and I'll only play half a dozen next year, and then I'm going to build a tomato patch and a few watermelons and some sweet corn. What are you laughing out over there?"

Wargo knows his days of competitive golf at the highest level - as a plus-50-year-old or not - are numbered. "I've been taking some time off," he said. "I haven't been playing really good in the last three or four years, five years. I've just been fiddling around trying to make beer money for a long time here is all I'm trying to do. I've been slacking off and dropping my schedule down a little bit because, you know, 67, you're down that other side of that hill pretty fast and I want to try to go onto some other things with my life before I hit the bottom of that hill. I found out that's two parts to life, young and skinny and old and fat, and take it from there.

"I want to do some other things in my life, some of the things that have been missing. I was a club pro and I didn't get a chance to play much tournament golf, but I worked hard at the job and I went south in the wintertime a little bit to work on the game and play a little bit of club professional events and so I didn't get a chance to do much. I wanted to go on to some fishing and other things. I used to do hunting and fishing and I want to go back to that."

Some of the bigger names - and younger players - in the field weren't able to duplicate Wargo - and Cochran's - low scores. Among them was Fred Couples, a three-time winner on the Champions Tour this year. "Boom-Boom" shot a 69 that included three birdies, two bogeys and an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole.

Count Couples among those impressed by the big crowds that showed up for the tournament Friday. "There's a lot of people, a lot of fun," the Seattle native said. "That was the fun part. They have supported this tournament and this will be one of the best tournaments that we have on the Champions Tour, because obviously the course is great, but the fans coming out make the whole event, for me. I can speak for most of the players; that when you come out and play and there's 20,000 people on a Friday, that's a lot of fun. You want to play better when you always play, but when there's more people, it's a lot more fun."

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