ESPN Golf Online
Friday, May 19

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jim Colbert matched the lowest round in Senior Tour history Friday with a remarkable 11-under 61 during the opening round of the TD Waterhouse Championship.

	Lowest rounds on Senior Tour
	Player	Score	Event
	Isao Aoki	60 (10-under)	1997 Emerald Coast
	Lee Elder	61 (11-under)	1985 Merrill Lynch
	Jim Colbert	61 (11-under)	2000 TD Waterhouse
	Rocky Thompson	61 (10-under)	1994 GTE Suncoast
	Jay Sigel	61 (10-under)	1998 Kaanapali
	Jim Colbert	61 (9-under)	1991 Kaanapali
	Dale Douglass	61 (9-under)	1994 Ralphs
	Bud Allin	61 (9-under)	1995 FHP Health Care
	Bob Duval	61 (9-under)	1999 Emerald Coast

Colbert matched Lee Elder as the only players on the Senior Tour to play a round in 11-under during the 21-year history of the Senior Tour. Elder's round came at the 1985 Merrill Lynch-Golf Digest Commemorative at Newport Country Club.

Isao Aoki has the lowest score on the Senior Tour with a 60 at the 1997 Emerald Coast Classic, but that came on a par-70 layout at The Moors Golf Club in Milton, Fla.

Colbert's round came on the par-72 Tiffany Greens Golf Club.

There were few signs Colbert was headed for a record round on the front nine, although he opened the day with an eagle on the par-5 first hole. He added a birdie at the par-3 sixth to make the turn at 3-under.

Then Colbert caught fire.

Colbert birdied the first eight holes on the back nine before settling for par on the 18th.

"I've been playing pretty well, just haven't been putting very well," Colbert told ESPN. "Last week I putted terribly."

Colbert said he wasn't thinking about the score, but rather the birdie string on the back nine.

"I was really trying to make that putt on the last hole so if anybody asked me how'd you do on the back nine, I could have said, `I birdied it,' " Colbert said.

Colbert's round was the eighth 61 in Senior Tour history, but just the second on a par-72 layout. One of those rounds belonged to Colbert on a par-70 layout at the 1991 Kaanapali Classic.

Colbert, 59, is a 19-time winner on the Senior Tour. He was player of the year in both 1995 and 1996, when he was the leading money-winner on the tour. He teamed with Andy North earlier this year to win the unofficial Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf.