First-round leader Bruce Vaughan pulled a Rory McIlroy and posted an 82 in the near dark on Friday evening at Sahalee to drop to a tie for 40. Meanwhile, despite waiting through the morning fog, which suspended play for two hours, Bernhard Langer pushed forward vigorously with a 68 to take a two-stroke lead at the US Senior Open.

Fresh off a victory at last week’s Senior British Open, if he can hold on to the lead, he will be the first player on the 50+ tour to win consecutive majors since Tom Watson in 2003.

“Langer is doing lunges on the greens and flexing his muscles,” I typed half-jokingly to a friend, who replied, “He’s in ridiculous shape. He’s a slightly more wrinkled version of his 30 year old self.”

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With the galleries five to ten deep from tee to green, the grandstands overflowing, the hero-like adulation and three or four uniformed officers, I felt like I was following Tiger Woods at Sahalee on Friday afternoon.

Wrong tour. I walked with Fred Couples, Tom Watson and Eduardo Romero for their first nine, but I actually only saw about four and a half. I kept shaking my head in disbelief. This is a Friday and a senior citizens tour event, no less!

26,173 people attended the second round of the US Senior Open, according to USGA officials. Considering 25,423 of them were tracking Freddie, it felt like there were even more. I’d never seen anything like it.

Neither had Tom Watson or his caddie Todd Newcomb — they don’t think.

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For those of you who snickered when I said I was going to the Senior Open, I’m happy to report that Thursday was actually rather riveting. No, it’s not Tiger and Phil doing what they do (or used to do), but Fred Couples and Tom Watson aren’t so bad. In fact, they’ve had a few top-tens in some recent majors. But I’m most impressed by the crowds at Sahalee for the first round. It’s been nine years since I left the Seattle area for the east coast, but I used to always rave about the sports fans. On Thursday I remembered the reason. People came out in hordes to watch a bunch of senior citizens hit a golf ball!

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For a guy who shot a solid one-under 69, just three strokes off the lead at the US Senior Open, Mark Calcavecchia seemed rather grouchy. “You don’t seem happy, it was a good round of golf,” one reporter noted.

“I’m happy, really happy, tired, back hurts, blister on my toe, ready to get the hell out of here, waking up every day at 3:00 [in the morning],” Calc replied with the same stony look.

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There’s a reason why Corey Pavin’s nickname is “Bulldog” — he’s a fierce competitor who grinds it out. How he gets around the course isn’t always so pretty, but he manages to get it done with the given circumstances of the day, which is basically the story of his first round at the US Senior Open. Pavin scrapped his way through Sahalee, a layout which is supposed to suit his game, to post a two-over 72.

I started following him on the 16th, his seventh hole on Thursday, and watched through the 4th. It looked more like he was en route to shoot 80, especially given some of his on-course antics, which were somewhat endearing, but partly because I was so surprised (even though it makes perfect sense).

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“The firmness of the greens is probably as hard as I’ve seen a green in America in a long time,” Tom Watson said. “They’re very, very firm. And as a result the greens are not real big in depth.”

For those unfamiliar with the Northwest, it may be shocking to hear that there’s been little rain recently. Seriously! Best kept secret: Summers in Seattle — I contend there’s no better place in the continental US to be in August.

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Missing the junior clinic Fred Couples gave on Tuesday afternoon is a drawback to my late arrival to the US Senior Open. At last year’s pre-media day, it was announced that Freddie would host a clinic for kids 17-and-under on the range at Sahalee. I remember joking to one of the tournament organizers that perhaps I could still pass for a junior. (I know I just set myself up there.)

From the sounds of it, I missed quite a few classic Freddie moments.

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I’m heading to the great Northwest tomorrow evening (Wednesday) just in time to watch a bunch of geezers tee off on Thursday for the 2010 US Senior Open at Sahalee. As some of you know, I grew up in the Seattle area and about 20 minutes from the course, so I figured I’d make the trip to visit my family and to cover the tournament. Oh, and to stalk watch Fred Couples play in front of a hometown crowd — Freddie also is a native of Seattle and a fan favorite.

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