Associated Press
Saturday, January 27

WAILEA, Hawaii -- Jack Nicklaus just wanted to make a good putt.

The 25-footer rolled into the cup at the third hole and it was worth three skins, $60,000 and enough to give him the lead Saturday after nine holes of the two-day Senior Skins Game.

Arnold Palmer and Hale Irwin each won one skin worth $20,000, with hard-luck Gary Player getting shutout.

That leaves $500,000 up for grabs Sunday at Wailea Golf Club's Gold Course.

"I hit it, oh, about 25 feet," Nicklaus said. "Gary hit a nice shot about 5 feet behind the hole. I didn't think he would miss so I wanted to make a good putt."

It was payback time for Nicklaus, too.

"I think we stole some from Gary, but last year Gary stole something from us," Nicklaus said.

Nicklaus was referring to Player winning last year's tournament by taking the last four skins in a playoff.

"But it was fun today," Nicklaus added. "We all had a good time."

After Nicklaus got things started, Palmer stepped up.

As the gallery roared, Palmer hesitated before knocking a 7-iron shot within 1½ feet to set up his first skin at No. 4.

"I hit a pretty good drive," he said. "I was going to hit an 8-iron, it was 126 yards, and I decided to go with a 7-iron."

But he wasn't pleased with the rest of his round.

"I played the early holes pretty good," Palmer said. "The last three I wasn't crazy about, but they were OK. I was a day late and dollar short."

Irwin birdied the next hole to make him the third winner of a skin over three consecutive holes. He knocked in a 6-footer for his $20,000.

"On the fifth, I had 145 yards uphill," he said. "I hit a 7-iron and, frankly, I thought Jack was going to make his putt.

"It seemed like I had been putting for ties. I was surprised when he missed. It was cross slope and cross grain, but I made a good putt and got my skin."

Player just missed a skin on the next hole, the 264-yard sixth, when his second shot rolled over the cup. He and Palmer split the hole to make it a carry-over.

"That was close," Player said as he walked up the fairway. "It's frustrating when you hit it that close and not get it."

Player was tripped up again on the next hole, the course's longest at 567 yards. He made a curving 16-foot birdie, but Nicklaus halved the hole by knocking in his birdie putt.

Player then saw his 6-footer on the ninth roll by on the edge of the cup. That would have given him the lead at the midway mark.

Later, he said, "I didn't putt that well."

But he added, "Remember nintai (Japanese word for patience). You know what happened last year."

This year's tournament features the last two champions in Player and Irwin. Player turned in a dramatic victory a year ago when he birdied the first playoff hole to pick up $230,000. Until that point, he had no skins.

Irwin won in 1999, his third go-around in the event. After finishing third and second in his first two Skins Game, he banked $230,000 two years ago.

The Skins participants have won 239 tournaments, including 40 major championships, and nearly $37 million.

The Wailea Gold Course runs along the base of the dormant volcano Haleakala and plays to a par 72 at 6,835 yards and has 93 bunkers and one lake, the 415-yard 14th. AP-NY-01-27-01 1718EST