Senior PGA: No. 7 plays hard to get in first round

6:01 p.m. AKDT, May 24, 2012

BENTON HARBOR -- In the background, Lake Michigan was a vibrant
bluish green.

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The beach was pristine, but vacant. Good day to fly a kite: 20 mph
breeze, gusts to 30 -- from the south, which is rare in this part of
the world.

And No. 7 was a bear: 436 yards downwind, par-4, hitting to an
elevated green with jungle brush and natural sand -- not the refined
stuff in the traps -- just a few feet beyond the putting surface.

The Golf Club of Harbor Shores got a good laugh, bringing some of the
top 50-and-older professional golfers -- and some gents just hoping for
a decent payday -- to the point of frustration.

Winning the Senior PGA Championship means taming No. 7.

Or, at least surviving it.

The big names negotiated it Thursday. First-round leader Roger Chapman
was one of six to escape with a birdie, en route to his 3-under 68.
Steve Pate, tied for fourth at 70, was another.

It was easily the toughest hole on the course -- even with the wind.

"I hit a driver, 9-iron to about 30 feet and holed that," Chapman
said, recounting his success. "(The putt) was going a little quick,

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