Sports
Page 12 Tuesday, July 14, 1981 The Michigan Daily
Palmer charges
to Senior win
BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (AP) - Ar-
nold Palmer, the man who put the word
"charge" into the vocabulary of golf.
stormed back from an early 6-stroke
deficit to win the U.S. Senior Open
championship in a three-way playoff
yesterday.
Palmer, 51, started with bogeys on
three of the first six holes but finished
with an even-par 70 over the difficult
6,798-yard South Course at Oakland
Hills to beat Bob Stone and Billy
Casper.
STONE, A club pro from Indepen-
dence, Mo., had a birdie on the 511-
yard, par-5 No.2 and holed a 170-yard 7-
iron for an eagle 2 at the fifth hole, and
looked like he might run away with it.
But once Palmer began his charge,
Stone snapped like a twig and finished
with a four-over 74.
Casper, who failed to make a birdie
all day, was still in the hunt at two-over
through the 14th hole. But the 50-year-
old Casper, the youngest player in the
tournament for golfers 50 and older,
bogeyed No. 15 before the roof fell in.
ON THE famous 16th hole, which has
decided several major championships
over the years, Casper knocked two
balls in the pond guarding the green
and finished the par four with an eight.
Casper finished the round with a 77, as
he and Stone each earned $9,586.
Palmer, who pocketed $26,000, said
the comeback victory was one of the
most gratifying of his legendary
career.
"Early in the round my play was
really pretty shakey and I was kind of
concerned," Palmer explained. "When
Bob jumped to three-under with his
eagle, my main thought was to not get
so far behind that I couldn't catch up.
"I KNEW this golf course doesn't let
you get much under par, so I figured I
still had a chance to catch him if I could
get something going."
Stone, 51, made him a gift with
bogeys on the seventh and ninth holes,
while Palmer began making his move
with birdies on Nos. 8 and 9. Palmer
called his tee shot at the 210-yard, par-
three ninth hole the key to the tour-
nament.
"I hit a 1-iron, and it probably was
my best shot of the tournament,"
Palmer said of the shot which stopped
18 feet from the pin. "At that point, if I
had a game plan, it was taking place. I
was getting it going while the golf cour-
se was starting to get to Bob."
STONE, WHO bogeyed five of the last
nine holes, said he tried not to let down
after his quick lead, but admitted that
"Arnie's Army" might have been a fac-
tor.
"In your heart, you know the fans
want Palmer to win," said Stone, who
appeared to miss his par putt on No. 7
when many of the 2,800 fans began
moving to the next tee after watching
Palmer hole out.
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ROBERT STONE watches his chip AP Photo
shot roll onto the ninth green during
yesterday's playoff at the USGA THE LEGENDARY Arnold Palmer
Senior Open, where he watched his strikes a pose that became very
early 6-stroke lead over Arnold familiar to golf fans a decade-and-a-
Palmer evaporate into a 4-stroke half ago: that of victorious
defeat. exultation.
Jet president testifies
against Raider move
LOS ANGELES (AP)-The president of the New York Jets, James Kensil,
testified yesterday that the Raiders should not be allowed to move out of Oakland
even though the Los Angeles area can support two National Football League
teams.
As the 10th week of the Raiders-NFL antitrust trial opened yesterday, Kensil, a
former executive director of the NFL, told the U.S. District Court jury that "the
fans of Oakland should in no way be left in the lurch."
KENSIL WAS ASKED by NFL attorney Patrick Lynch to explain his opposition
to the Raiders' planned move to the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1980, when the Rams
had left the Coliseum to play 35 miles away at Anaheim Stadium.
"There is no question there at all," Kensil said. "The Los Angeles arrangement
was more lucrative. But that wasn't the question. The question was whether they
should leave Oakland."
Kensil acknowledged that two NFL teams could co-exist in the Los Angeles and
Orange County areas, and noted that the New York Giants and New York Jets have
"no significant effect on each other."
Under cross examination by Los Angeles Coliseum attorney Maxwell Blecher,
Kensil insisted that competition is not a significant factor and that "our fortunes
would rise and fall on our performance on the field."
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