Morgan falters in P.G.A.

Press, 16 August 1976, Page 28

Morgan falters in P.G.A.

NZPA . Bethesda David Graham of Australia, has twenty-one holes to play in the P.G.A. championship in Bethesda. Maryland, in his bid to overtake the faltering Gil Morgan and achieve his most important golfing success, the “New York Times” reported. When the third round was suspended because of lightning and heavy rain, Graham had completed fifteen holes in two-under par, to be oneunder for 51 holes.

Morgan’s .shaky lead appeared to be floating away on the half inch of rain that fell on the course. No doubt about it, the pressure that Morgan said he “couldn’t see” finally got to him in the third round and hia arrant fiboU coat him

three strokes and reduced his lead to just one shot. Eighteen players were still on the course of the Congressional Country Club when play was stopped and their positions varied from the twelfth to the eighteenth holes. Forty-eight others had completed their rounds. The 18 who were caught In the rain will resume where they left off today. Morgan is on the twelfth green, three feet from the cup, his ball marked by a penny and a wooden tee. When play‘was suspended, this was how the leaders stood: Morgan, three-under par after 11 holes of the round, 47 for the tournament; Charles Coody, winner of the 1971 Masters, two under after 13 holes; David

Graham, winner of last month’s Westchester Classic, one under after 15 holes; Jack Nicklaus, level par after 13 holes; and Tom Kite and Don January, par after 12 holes. Among those who had finished their rounds, David Stockton, the 1970 champion, was in with 69 and a 54-hole aggregate of 211, or one over Congressional’s par. Lee Elder shot 70 for 212; Joe Porter and John Schlee shot 70s for 214. Arnold Palmer, who has never won the P.G.A. championship. was the pleasant surprise of the day, turning in a two-under par 68. It was Palmer’s best P.G.A. 18-hole score since the final round of the 1966 tournament at Firestone, where ha also ahot

68. Palmer shared honours with Bruce Lietzke for the lowest score of the day. Palmer stood at 215, four-over par, and Lietzke at 216, What happened on the third round essentially, was that all but three of the leaders at the 36-hole stage fell back in varying degrees. The result was that the three challengers — Nicklaus, the defending titleholder, Coody, and Graham — were able to gain ground just bv plating moderately well. Morgan lost two shots in the first four holes and another on the tenth. Tom Weiskopf, who had been tied for third when the third round started, disappeared from the leader board after losing four shots in the first five holes.