Associated Press
Saturday, March 18

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- Andy North the ESPN golf analyst would have loved what Andy North the golfer did Friday.

Making his debut on the Senior PGA Tour after seven years in the TV booth, North teamed with another former commentator, Jim Colbert, to shoot a 13-under-par 59 for the lead after the opening round of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf.

North and Colbert finished three shots ahead of three pairings -- Tom Watson-Lanny Wadkins, David Graham-Bruce Fleisher and Hubert Green-Gil Morgan -- in the two-man, best-ball tournament on the Slammer and Squire Course at World Golf Village.

Although the tournament is only an exhibition, the first round offered a nice dose of confidence for North, who hasn't played much competitive golf since the early 1990s.

"I hit some nice shots," said North, the two-time U.S. Open champion, who became eligible for the Senior Tour with his 50th birthday last week. "At the beginning, I was a little scratchy. But if this were a medal tournament, I only would've made one bogey. I really played pretty well."

North said Colbert told him to approach the tournament as if it were being played under regular medal rules -- with each man doing his own thing.

That mindset helped them get off to a great start. On No. 1, North hit his approach shot to 15 feet and sank the putt for birdie. Colbert followed with three straight birdies and the TV team was off and rolling.

"I didn't know what to expect from Andy, other than that he'd be excited," Colbert said. "Excitement is usually good for an athlete. Then, when he made that putt on No. 1, I knew he had settled down."

Also hot were Watson and Wadkins, both of whom turned 50 in the past six months.

Smiling and decked out in green for St. Patrick's Day, Watson sank a 20-foot putt on No. 7 for his third birdie of the day.

Wadkins played his approach shots to inside two feet on Nos. 8 and 9 for easy birdies.

"Tom's playing exceptionally well," Wadkins said. "He played beautiful golf today, a lot of great shots. It was a very solid round."

Watson said the cracked heel he suffered a few weeks ago while trying to jump a fence didn't bother him. He rode the 6,911-yard course in a cart -- as allowed on the Senior Tour -- then put on a stabilizing boot after completing the round.

"My foot's fine," Watson said. "It's not affecting the way I play. But if I had to walk 18 holes, it might get sore."

Watson and Wadkins played alongside Jack Nicklaus and Raymond Floyd to form the most intriguing foursome of the day. But the Golden Bear continued to struggle and offered up little magic to the large gallery that followed. The team finished at 4-under.

Errant and off-target, Nicklaus hit his tee shot out of bounds on No. 8, forcing him to pick up and let Floyd play out the hole on his own. On No. 18, Nicklaus closed his dismal day by hooking his tee shot into a water hazard.

"Lanny Wadkins and Tom Watson played well, my partner Ray Floyd played well -- I watched," Nicklaus said.

DIVOTS: Green and Morgan are the defending champions. Morgan was making his 2000 debut on tour after overcoming a pulled rib muscle. ... Shell's Wonderful World of Golf named Gary Player the new "ambassador" for the made-for-TV series. Player will replace Gene Sarazen, who died in May. The first match, to be played in April and aired in October, will pit David Duval against Ernie Els. Player and Nicklaus will square off in July. ... The foursome including Nicklaus, Watson, Floyd and Wadkins accounted for 147 PGA Tour victories.