Stadler leads after first P.G.A. round

Press, 9 August 1980, Page 56

Stadler leads after first P.G.A. round

NZPA Rochester, New York

Craig Stadler, the chunky guy called “the walrus” by his fellow touring golfers, shot a solid, 3-under-par 67 and took the lead yesterday in the storm-delayed first round of the sixty-second P.G.A. national golf championship. Stadler had to wait for 36 minutes during a late-after-noon thunderstorm delay before finishing with pars on the two toughest holes on te

on the course for some control of the lead.

His late heroics lifted him ahead of a group of five tied at 68.

They included the veteran, Bob Murphy, Dr Gil Morgan, Curtis Strange, Howard Twitty and Bobby Walzel. The defending champion, David Graham, of Australia,

and the man he beat in; a play-off for the 1979 title, Ben Crenshaw, were -at 69, l-under par on the 6964yard Oak Hili ’Country Club course that, most leading players agreed,, played: about as easily as it ever will. Hale Irwin, a two-time United ; States Open titleholder, also had a 69, the; only other man able to break par. But the pre-tournament favourites/ ..Tom -Watson,. Lee Trevino. and. Jack Nicklaus, weren’t able to take advantage of the relatively easy scoring conditions: . soft greens, which held the approach shots, soft fairways that kept the ball from running into the deep, treacherous .rough, and the absence of wind. ’

Nicklaus, who broke- his long slump with:a dramatic victory in the United-States Open a couple of months

ago, managed a round of par 70. ' .' Trevino 1 said he was* far from being discouraged after a 74 and Watson was .disappointed but far from out of it after a 75. Watson, a, five-time winner of the United States tour this season and making his first start since winning the 'British. Open two weeks ago, didn’t make a birdie in bis effort that' left him eight shots off the ; pace, Stadler, who won the Bob Hope Classic and Greensboro opens' earlier this year, was. the -only one of the leaders to'play in the afternoon'half of ■ the field when the heat, which, reached near 35 degrees Celsius, and the heavy humidity;- were at their worst. :

70—Ckri» Stadler, 34, 38.. 68' —' Howard- Twitty,. 35, 38; Bobby Walzel, ; 34, 34; Curtis Strange. 36,. 32; Gil Morgan, 34, 34;. Bob. Murphy, 33, 35. 69—Ben Crenshaw, 36, 33; Hale Irwin, 33, 36; David Graham (Australia), 34. 35., ;? ■ / 70 — Morris Hatalsky, 32, .38; Tohru Nakamura (Japan), 35, 35; Lee Elder, .36, 34; Jack Nicklaus, 35, ’35; Johnny Miller, 34, 36; Bob Gilder, 35. 35; Jack Renner, 36, -34; Lay Floyd, 36, 34; Lon Hinkle, 35, -35; George Archer, 35, 35. ” ‘■Others:

72—Gary Player (S. Africa), 36, 36; Jack Newton (Australia), 33,