MANILA, Philippines – Frankie Miñoza shot an eagle-aided two-under 69 but stood way down in joint 30th in a day of torrid scoring with Nick Price matching the lowest round in Champions Tour history with a career-best 60 in the Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach, California Friday.
Miñoza, in his third tournament on the US Seniors Tour, birdied No. 2 then eagled the par-5 third hole but he fumbled with three bogeys in the next 11 holes, needing to birdie Nos. 15 and 17 to salvage a 33-36 card at the par-71 Newport Beach Country Club.
He joined 14 others in 30th place, including the likes of Fred Funk, Tom Watson, Bob Tway and Chip Beck, nine strokes behind Price, who hit two eagles in the last four holes to complete a bogey-free 31-29 round.
The 50-year-old Price eagled the par-5 15th and 18th holes and had seven birdies in an awesome show of shotmaking.
The Zimbabwean thus joined several other players to have scored a 60 on the Champions Tour, including Tom Purtzer in 2004, Isao Aoki in 1997, Walter Morgan in 2002, Bruce Fleisher in 2002, Jim Thorpe in 2003 and Craig Stadler in 2005.
Price opened up a five-stroke lead over Bernhard Langer, Mark O’Meara, Mark Wiebe and Brad Bryant, who all had 65s.