Torrance defies fierce back pain to stay

in touch at Scottish Senior Open

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By JIM BLACK
Sam Torrance defied the odds in the first round of the Cleveland/Srixon Scottish Senior Open at the Fairmont St Andrews to shoot 75 despite being forced to play through the pain barrier for close on five hours.
Torrance confessed he had been on the point of withdrawing from the £225,000 tournament due to a crippling lower back injury, and later claimed he had experienced the worst pain of his life on a golf course in 40 years as a professional.
"I hit every drive one-handed and I was screaming every time I hit the ball," said Torrance. "It was a nightmare. That is the sorest I have ever felt on a golf course and I wouldn't have finished anywhere else."
But the 55-year-old former Ryder Cup-winning captain refused to succumb to his condition after being forced to take three pain-killing tablets prior to the first round on the course he helped redesign as part of a £17million revamp of the Fife resort.
Torrance simply gritted his teeth and carried on.
"I have had six physiotherapy treatments since I arrived here and while these will help in the long run, they don't do so immediately because you feel the reaction to the treatment," he said.
"I was very close to pulling out, but because it's here and it's the Scottish Open I did my best to try and get round."
Torrance said that he does not know how he sustained the mystery injury after revealing: "My lower back started stiffening up a couple of days ago and has got progressively worse. But I am not finished yet. If I can get the problem fixed by the morning, a 65 tomorrow would put me right back in it, but I have to be able to play to do that."
Ross Drummond of Paisley is joint leader following a three-under-par 69. He then insisted that it is high time he experienced the joy of winning after a clutch of second place finishes; two on the European Tour and three on the Seniors circuit.
The halfway leader in the recent US Senior Open said: "I have been knocking on the door for a while and it's time I opened it and walked in. This would be an ideal place to finally make the breakthrough at the Home of Golf."
Drummond birdied three of the last five holes to share the lead with Englishman Bob Cameron and Argentine Luis Carbonetti.
Cameron got off to a poor start when he hit a wayward drive and promptly dropped a shot, but he quickly rallied to birdie the third before claiming three more at nine, 13 and 14.
The 56-year-old from Plymouth, who is seeking his first victory for five years, said: "I have played quite well in the wind this season and came back strongly after my disappointing start."
Ian Woosnam, who appears to have overcome his foot problems after investing in a new pair of golf shoes, settled for a highly respectable 71 to claim a share of fifth place on the same mark as Fife-born former Ryder Cup player Gordon Brand Jnr, one shot behind Senior Tour debutant, the appropriately named Peter Senior of Australia.
Woosnam currently sits second in the order of merit behind Mark McNulty, whose absence from the event means that the little Welshman can overhaul him, provided to keeps the injured Torrance at bay.
Anglo-Scot Bill Longmuir, Scottish Senior Open champion in 2004, carded 72, while three-time Senior Tour winner John Chillas of Aberdeen had a 74.
*The full article above appears in The Scotsman newspaper today.

FIRST ROUND SCORES

Par 72

69 L Carbonetti (Arg) , R Drummond (Sco) , B Cameron (Eng) ,
70 P Senior (Aus) ,
71 C Mason (Eng) , G Ryall (Eng) , I Woosnam (Wal) , T Johnstone (Zim) , G Brand Jnr (Sco) , R Chapman (Eng) , B Boyd (USA) , D Johnson (USA) , G Ralph (Eng) ,
72 A Murray (Eng) , D Durnian (Eng) , D Smyth (Irl) , P Allan (Eng) , B Longmuir (Sco) ,
73 E Rodriguez (Esp) , B Smit (RSA) , D Merriman (Aus) , P Mitchell (Eng) , H Carbonetti (Arg) , A Franco (Par) , J Rivero (Esp) , G Towne (USA) , P Oakley (USA) , S Owen (Nzl) , N Ratcliffe (Aus) , T Giedeon (Ger) ,
74 C Williams (RSA) , B McColl (Sco) , M Harwood (Aus) , S Bennett (Eng) , E Darcy (Irl) , G Cali (Ita) , N Job (Eng) , B Lincoln (RSA) , T Gale (Aus) , J Heggarty (Nir) , J Chillas (Sco) ,
75 G Brand (Eng) , M Cunning (USA) , D Hospital (Esp) , A Barrera (Arg) , M Piñero (Esp) , S Torrance (Sco) ,
76 G Encina (Chi) , J Hall (Eng) , M Williams (Zim) , J Bland (RSA) , S Ginn (Aus) , M Farry (Fra) , B Charles (Nzl) ,
77 A Fernandez (Chi) , J Bruner (USA) , D Cambridge (Jam) , I Mosey (Eng) , A Garrido (Esp) , M Miller (Sco) , M Clayton (Aus) ,
78 J Rhodes (Eng) , D O'Sullivan (Irl) , G Hopkins (USA) ,
79 J Hawkes (RSA) ,
80 D Russell (Eng) , D Good (Aus) , V Garcia (Esp) ,
81 M Bembridge (Eng) , K Spurgeon (Eng) , E Polland (Nir) ,
86 R Hopkins (USA) ,