US Senior Open of Golf 2017: Kirk Triplett Rides Hot Start to 1st-Round Lead

Kirk Triplett raced out to a lead in the first round of the U.S. Senior Open at the Salem Country Club in Peabody, Massachusetts, shooting a torrid eight-under 62 to take a one-stroke lead over Olin Browne.

Triplett's evening was a record-setting one, per the USGA:

His lead is a small one, however, with Browne hot on his trail and Doug Garwood just two strokes back. You can see the top of the leaderboard below. For the full leaderboard, check out USGA.org.

• Kirk Triplett: -8
• Olin Browne: -7
• Doug Garwood: -6
• Jerry Smith: -5
• Paul Goydos: -5
• Kenny Perry: -5
• Tom Lehman: -5
• Barry Lane: -5
• Danny Waldorf
• Scott Verplank: -4
• Joe Durant: -4
• Corey Pavin: -4

Other notable scores included Miguel Angel Jimenez posting a 67, Fred Couples shooting a 68, Tom Watson at 69, Colin Montgomerie at 71 and Nick Faldo shooting a 73.

Hale Irwin shot a 72, meanwhile, and had the following humorous exchange with Paul Goydos in the clubhouse, per David Shedloski of USGA.com:

"How’d you do?" Goydos asked.

"Shot my age," Irwin replied.

"What are you, 81?" Goydos teased.

Irwin talked more seriously about his round later.

“I putted OK. I managed my short game OK. But I really didn’t hit the ball well at all," he told Shedloski. "Very short off the tee. I hit all the fairways, which is the good part. Bad part is I missed a lot of the greens, so I wasn’t really putting for that many birdies. But a lot of it’s management; I still know how to do that."

Triplett, on the other hand, didn't miss much of anything, finishing with six birdies and an eagle. Part of that came down to a decision to play aggressively, as he told John Strege of GolfDigest.com:

"When you play in a major and you haven’t played the golf course before and you’re playing early and there’s no scores out there you can get a little too conservative, because typically par is such a standard. When I got to the course today, there were a whole bunch of guys at four, Goydos was at six. OK, I’m going to go out there and try to make birdies. It was a different mindset.”

While Triplett was the story on Thursday, he was far from the only player to play well, as Chris Dachille of WBAL-TV noted:

With so many players shooting excellent scores, more than a few provided memorable moments. 

Waldorf, for instance, made this impressive putt on No. 8:

Michael Allen made this ridiculous birdie on No. 7:

And Todd McCorkle sunk a long one of his own with this beauty at No. 16:

The stage is now set for record-setting scores at the Senior Open. If Triplett can replicate his form from Thursday, however, he'll be tough to catch.