For someone who wasn't supposed to swing a golf club until February, R.W. Eaks did fairly well Thursday afternoon at the Riverside Country Club.
So well, in fact, that he's the co-leader after the first round of the Nike Utah Classic.Eaks joined Jerry Haas atop the leaderboard with a 65. Michael Christie and P.J. Cowan are a stroke back at 66 while seven golfers had 67s. Defending champion Glen Hnatiuk was at 69.
Steve Schneiter topped Utah's contingent with a 70 as only he and Henry White, with a 71, broke par. Tom Costello and Greg Whisman were at even par 72 and Kim Thompson, who birdied 18, was at one over 73. Jim Nelford withdrew when he was selected to fill an opening in the PGA Tour's Quad City Classic.
Eaks, 44, from Scottsdale, Ariz., was in a truck rollover accident in May, suffering head and neck injuries. "They told me . . . I would not touch a golf club in nine months. The back of my head was numb for two months," Eaks said.
Aided by a chiropractor and two rehabilitation assistants, Eaks was soon swinging his clubs again and competed in the Utah Open in August - where he had another injury. On the final round he jammed his back while hitting a 5-iron out of the rough on the first hole. He played two more holes but couldn't continue.
"I bought a car from Gus (Paulos) and drove home," he said.
Then last week during Nike Tour play in Denver he had a shocking experience - literally. A spike got caught in an extension cord connection "and shocked me. I didn't play well after that." He said his hair was on end for three days.
Thursday it was Eaks' turn to do the shocking, particularly on the back nine. He finished the front with an even par 36, recording a birdie and a bogey. It was like he entered the Twilight Zone on the back nine, getting seven birdies to shoot a 29, just one off the record of 28 set by Tommy Tolles in 1993. He actually could have birdied every back nine hole as he missed a 5-foot putt on No. 12 and then his approach shot on No. 18 was headed toward the flag when it hit a telephone wire. He re-hit it and pushed it right, where he made a nice up and down from the second cut of rough.
The difference?
"The front nine I hit the ball solid but didn't make a lot of putts. Everything started clicking on the back nine," he said. "The only difference between shooting 65 or 70 is the guy who makes a few putts."
Eaks finished second to John Daly in the first Utah Classic in 1990, shooting a final round 63.
Haas' round was similar to Eaks' in that he charged on the back nine, getting five consecutive birdies (No. 13 through 17) to get a 31 after scoring 34 on the front. Highlights on the back included holing a sand wedge from the bunker on the 538-yard par 5 on No. 15 and sinking a 35-foot putt on the par 3 17th.
Like Eaks, Haas, who is the younger brother of PGA Tour player Jay Haas, has been ailing, noting that his left shoulder and left wrist were giving him problems.
Christie has been as hot as any Nike Tour golfer with a win and two second place finishes in the last three weeks. His goal is to win $200,000, something no one has done on the Nike Tour. "I've got nothing to lose . . . I've got a ton of confidence."
Cowan, who started the year with a win in the Tallahassee Open, had been in a slump, missing four cuts in a row and withdrawing before a 20th place finish last week in Denver.
Schneiter felt he played a solid round "from tee to green" but "the putts just didn't go in . . . They'll fall. You just have to be patient."
The tournament continues today and Saturday.