Gogel, Ridings, Phillips enjoy strong starts in U.S. Senior Open

Live scoring

It was a mixed bag overall for the Oklahoma contingent in the first round of the U.S. Senior Amateur at The Broadmoor’s East Course, but a great round from former Bishop Kelly star Matt Gogel, a steady performance by Memorial graduate Tag Ridings and a nifty comeback by Jenks graduate Tracy Phillips saved the day.

Gogel shot a 2-under 68 to trail leaders Mark Hensby and Padraig Harrington by just one shot. Ridings, who grew up in Tulsa and attended Arkansas, made four birdies in an even-par round of 70 and is tied for 18th. Phillips played the difficult back nine first and made bogeys on four of the long par-4s — yardages of 506, 482, 482 and 516. But he made three birdies and battled his way back to a 1-over 71, tied for 33rd.

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Gogel got into the field as an alternate at the final qualifying round, a new procedure for the U.S. Senior Open.

“This was the first year for final qualifying, like the U.S. Open. I thought there would be a pretty good shot at [getting in as an alternate] because I think my position was fourth of the re-allotment,” said Gogel, the 1990 Oklahoma State Amateur champion. “And I know that playing the Champions Tour full-time there’s always four guys or five guys that are pretty hurt. I got the call like Wednesday of last week, so that just kind of made it pretty easy. I’ve been living on the edge of the Champions Tour. With my status, I’m kind of usually two, three in, two or three out…so it’s nothing unusual.”

Golf Oklahoma asked Phillips last night if he had any difficulty reaching the long par-4s nearing 500 yards. He said he had a three-putt from 80 feet on the 506-yard 10th hole, a mud ball on the 482-yard 11th and missed the fairways in substantial rough on the 482-yard 13th and 519-yard 17th. Today the 17th is playing at 545 yards., a meaty par-4 for seniors even at altitude.

Willie Wood and Brandt Jobe, two Oak Tree National members in Edmond, each shot 73 and are tied for 63rd. Bo Van Pelt of Tulsa and former Oklahoma Sooner Glen Day shot 77 and a third OTN member and Oklahoma Golf Hall of Famer Scott Verplank shot 78.

Somebody forgot to tell Hensby that making pars in a U.S. Senior Open – or any USGA championship – is a good score.

The Australian, who turns 54 on Sunday, registered just three in Thursday’s opening round.  Hensby collected a championship-leading nine birdies against six bogeys en route to a 3-under-par 67, good enough to share the lead with 2022 champion Padraig Harrington.

U.S. Senior Open rookies Stewart Cink, Stephen Gallacher and Freddie Jacobson, along with Bob Estes, Thomas Bjorn, Ken Tanigawa and qualifier Gogel, were one stroke back.

Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, coming off last week’s playoff victory in the Kraulig Companies Championship, the third of five majors on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, is among a large group two strokes back. He was joined at 1-under 69 by the man he defeated in that playoff, Steven Alker, along with Parker, Colo., resident Shane Bertsch, former Wake Forest All-American Billy Andrade, Paul Broadhurst, Steve Flesch, Peter Baker and Robert Karlsson.

Taking advantage of softer conditions after the venerable layout received just under an inch of rain the past 48 hours as well as light wind, Hensby, who finished third in the 2022 U.S. Senior Open at Saucon Valley Country Club and tied for third in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst 20 years ago, birdied his first three holes and seven of the first nine en route to an outward-nine, 6-under 30. But he struggled a bit coming home with five bogeys, including a missed 8-footer on 18, to go with two birdies. His three pars came on Nos. 7, 14 and 15.

“It was up and down. That’s about all I can say,” said Hensby. “It’s just frustrating…But I’ve never been a very consistent player. I’m hot or cold, and that kind of sucks. Certain shots I keep hitting during rounds, it just pisses me off, so to speak. So yeah, the back nine was just kind of a bit of that.”

Hensby’s 2025 season on the PGA Tour Champions has been pedestrian with just one top 10 (T-8 at the Principal Charity Classic) and a lot of top 15s and 20s in 13 starts. He arrived at The Broadmoor fresh from a solo 15th finish last week in Akron, Ohio.

Harrington, meanwhile, was in contention to win last month’s Senior PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club until suffering a couple of hiccups down the stretch. On Thursday, he was nearly flawless, registering four birdies against a lone bogey on the 15th hole that could have been a lot worse. A wayward tee shot that could not be found forced Harrington back to the tee, where his drive found the right rough. From there, he knocked his fourth shot 20 feet below the hole and holed the putt for a remarkable 5.

Notable 

• Matt Schalk, of Erie, Colo., and the general manager of Colorado National Golf Club, had the honor of hitting the opening tee shot. Competing in his second consecutive U.S. Senior Open, Schalk, who has daughter and former University of Colorado women’s golf standout Hailey Schalk on his bag, ripped a drive into the left portion of the fairway.
• The first-round scoring average of 73.94 was less than the two previous U.S. Senior Opens at The Broadmoor. In 2008, it was 74.55 and 10 years later it was 74.67. The par-36 outward nine (37.24) played 1.5 strokes less than the inward nine (36.70), which is a par 34.
• Due to a number of withdrawals, every first alternate from the 12 final qualifying sites got into the field. Two second alternates also got into the field: Rob McIver (replaced Kevin Shields from his final qualifying site) and Mikael Lundberg (replaced exempt player Tim O’Neal). This was the first year the USGA went to a two-qualifying stage for the U.S. Senior Open. Matt Gogel and Notah Begay III have taken full advantage of their “mulligan.” Gogel, the first alternate from the Nebraska qualifier, is one stroke off the lead after a 68. Begay won a 7-for-1 playoff for first-alternate status at his final qualifier in Wisconsin and followed with an even-par 70 in Round 1.
• Lundberg was the last player to officially register, arriving at The Broadmoor from his native Sweden at 12:30 a.m. MDT.
• Two-time USGA champion Todd White registered an eagle-2 on the 335-yard second, holing out from 106 yards with a gap wedge after laying up with a 3-wood off the tee. White posted a 3-over 73. Tim Petrovic, a runner-up at The Broadmoor in 2018, also made an eagle on the 482-yard, par-4 13th hole.
• Several notables are serving as caddies this week. Kimberly Kim, the youngest champion in U.S. Women’s Amateur history (14 in 2006 at Pumpkin Ridge) is on the bag of fellow Hawaiian Channing Tam. Canadian amateur Dave Bunker has American Hockey League referee Mike Dietrich. Plenty of sons, daughters and wives are also on bags, including Olin Browne Jr., a professional who qualified for the 2023 U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club. His father, Olin Browne, won the 2011 U.S. Senior Open at Inverness Club.