Two-time champion McDermott atop Middle-Amateur leaderboard

  GREENVILLE, Del.–Michael McDermott of Merion Golf Club carded the lone under-par score of the 25th Middle-Amateur Championship’s first round, firing a 2-under-par 69 at a wet and, at times, windy, Fieldstone Golf Club (par 71, 6,532 yards) on Wednesday. He holds a two-shot lead heading into the second and final day.

  William Lawler of Fox Hill Country Club, 60, a former Senior Player of the Year who walked and carried his own bag on the hilly trek, posted an impressive even-par 71 and stands alone in second place. Michael Domenick, 53, of Phoenixville Country Club and Chip Lutz, 53, of LedgeRock Golf Club, finished at 72 and are tied for third. Lutz is the defending champion.

  A field of 127 players started with the cut line falling at 80 (9-over-par). A total of 77 players advanced. The second and final round begins at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow. The leaders start their day at 12:20 a.m.

  The Mid-Am. is the first of four GAP Majors.

  McDermott, the reigning William Hyndman, III Player of the Year and a two-time Mid-Am. champion, finished with a flurry to grab the top spot, posting three birdies on his final three holes.

  Completing his round on the front nine, McDermott put a sand wedge from 110 yards to three feet on No. 7 (par 4, 340 yards); launched an 8-iron to 15 feet and rolled in the right to left breaker on No. 8 (par 3, 180 yards) and knocked a pitching wedge from 145 yards, with the hole playing straight downwind, to a foot on No. 9 (par 4, 439 yards).

  “I didn’t think I’d be in the lead standing on the seventh tee,” said McDermott, 33, of Bryn Mawr, Pa. “There are a lot of good players within a few shots so it’s nice to have a little cushion. I know I’ll have to play well in order to beat them.”

  McDermott opened his round with two bogeys in his first four holes, but responded with a birdie on No. 15 (par 4, 437 yards) when he knocked a sand wedge to four feet from 120 yards. A three-putt bogey on 16 (par 3, 130 yards) followed but McDermott responded with a nice up-and-down from the left rough for a birdie on No. 18 (par 5, 526 yards) and made the turn at 1-over par.

  Another birdie-bogey exchange on Nos. 4 (par 4, 354 yards) and 5 (par 5, 525 yards) preceded the sterling McDermott finish.

  “It’s a good position to be in,” said McDermott. “To be in the hunt in any Major is a great thing.”

  Lawler, a top senior player in Golf Association of Philadelphia circles, turned in maybe the most impressive performance of the day considering he carried his own bag. His round included four birdies and four bogeys.

  “It’s a nice surprise,” said Lawler, a resident of West Wyoming, Pa. “I’m thrilled. Anytime you play in these events and play the best players and play well, it’s great.”

  Lawler, starting on the back nine, opened with a bogey on No. 10 (par 5, 550 yards) when he failed to get up-and-down from around the green, but made an eight-foot birdie on No. 11 (par 4, 304 yards) to get back to square. Another birdie-bogey exchange on Nos. 14 (par 4, 457 yards) and 15 allowed Lawler to make the turn in even par.

  Bogeys on Nos. 1 (par 4, 440 yards) and 6 (par 3, 182 yards) mingled with a 15-foot birdie on No. 5 (par 5, 525 yards) and another under-par score with a 9-iron to eight feet on No. 7 (par 4, 340 yards).

  This is only the second time Lawler has competed in the Golf Association of Philadelphia Middle-Amateur Championship.

  Lurking in third place is Lutz. Lutz is a two-time Middle-Amateur Champion and the reigning titleholder. He took his first title in 1998.

  Domenick, too, is no stranger to the top of the Mid-Am. leaderboard. In 1993, he fell to Carl Everett of Merion GC in a playoff for the crown.

  The Middle-Amateur is for players 25 years of age and older.

  The GAP Middle-Amateur started in 1984, three years after the USGA created the U.S. Mid-Am. as a formal championship for post-college amateurs. The Association followed suit with the USGA in creating a Mid-Am., but initially differed in its administration of the tournament in a couple of respects.

  The most obvious difference was the age requirement. Prior to 2001, the GAP Mid-Am. was for players 30 years of age and older. That Committee reviewed and revised that age requirement in 2001 to match the USGA’s guidelines of 25 years of age or older for eligible players. Also at that point, the Committee changed the format of the event to a two-day stroke play tournament (instead of a one-day medal play event) with a cut to the low 70 players and ties after the first round. Playerss must have a GAP/USGA Handicap Index of 7.0 or lower.