Thompson takes early lead on Champions Tour

CONCORD, Mass. (AP) _ Leonard Thompson doesn't try to understand it. Doesn't really care. When he gets on a hot streak with his putter, he just wants to keep it going. <br/><br/>``How you get on

Friday, June 24th 2005, 6:53 pm

By: News On 6

CONCORD, Mass. (AP) _ Leonard Thompson doesn't try to understand it. Doesn't really care. When he gets on a hot streak with his putter, he just wants to keep it going.

``How you get on and off of these rolls is the hardest thing to explain and accept,'' he said Friday after birdies on four of the last five holes to take the first-round lead in the Champions Tour's Bank of America Championship. ``Like Nicklaus: He was on one for about 30 years.''

Thompson shot a 66 at the par-72, 6,728-yard Nashawtuc Country Club to take a one-stroke lead over Tom McKnight, Mark McNulty, Walter Hall and John Harris. Seven golfers were another stroke back at minus 4 _ including Dana Quigley, the tour's leading money earner who won the last tournament two weeks ago for his sixth consecutive finish in the top seven.

Thompson sank a 35-foot putt on the ninth hole to improve to 2-under, but he three-putted on the par-5 10th hole for a bogey that dropped him to minus 1. He got the stroke back with a three-footer on No. 11, then sank four putts of around 20 feet to birdie Nos. 14, 15, 16 and 18 for his low round of the year.

``You start putting like Hale (Irwin), your score gets lower,'' Thompson said with a chuckle. ``That must be the way that guys who putt really well feel.''

Thompson has won just three times on the 50-and-over circuit _ not since 2001 _ and had never held the first-round lead by himself. So it would be nice if his good touch would stay around for a while.

But, unlike Jack Nicklaus, Thompson's hot streaks can last a few weeks; or they could last just 10 holes, which would mean this one is over.

``You get on a roll and you don't know why,'' he said. ``If we knew (why), we would mix it up and bottle it and none of us would have to do this anymore.''

Temperatures were in the mid-80s for the first round and were expected to rise to the high-90s on Saturday, with a heat index that would make it feel like 104 degrees. The tour said that players would be given an option of riding carts for the second round.

Carts had been banned from the senior tour this year but are allowed in exceptional circumstances, like at the Allianz Championship in Polk City, Iowa, where there were several changes in elevation. Carts were allowed because of heat for one round in Austin, Texas, at the end of April.

Thompson, who was born in North Carolina and lives in Florida, said he welcomes the heat.

``I've always played better as it gets warmer,'' said Thompson, who's listed at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds. ``I don't know if that's coincidence or if it's because I'm big and I kind of get loose easier.''

Hall was the only other golfer to reach 6 under, and he only stayed there for two holes before a bogey on No. 7 _ his back nine _ left him at minus 5. Ed Dougherty and David Eger played bogey-free rounds to finish 4 under.

``It was boring, but it's the way I'd like to be boring,'' Eger said. ``I normally make bogeys, too.''

Bruce Summerhays got off to a good start with an odd eagle on his first hole, the 538-yard No. 10. He drove into the right rough, punched his second shot into the middle of the fairway and then holed an 8-iron from 121 yards out.

Summerhays, who was in the second group to tee off, led most of the morning until he bogeyed Nos. 7 and 8 and finished at minus 3.

Divots: Larry Nelson withdrew because his father is ill, opening a spot for Dave Barr. Barr shot 73. ... Defending champion Craig Stadler shot 72. ... Lanny Wadkins had two of the day's six eagles. ... Arnold Palmer shot 77, with a birdie on No. 18 that drew big cheers from his ever-present gallery. ... Quigley made his 262nd consecutive start. His 68 was his fifth straight round in the 60s.