Floyd, Stadler head parade in U.S. Masters
NZPA-Reuter Augusta, Georgia Ray Floyd and Craig Stadler head a parade of champions into today’s final quest for the SUS9O,OOO first prize that goes with the Masters golf championship.
Floyd and Stadler finished yesterday’s third round with six-under-par totals of 210, one ahead of Severiano Ballesteros, of Spain, and two ahead of Tom Watson and Jodie Mudd. All but Mudd have won the Masters before. Stadler, bidding to equal the feat of Jack Nicklaus in winning the title in successive years, threw down the gauntlet yesteray with a 69, the lowest round of the day. No one else scored better than 70 in gusty winds as the Augusta national course began to dry out after two days of drenching rain. Stadler, aged 32, nicknamed “Walrus” because of his big moustache, believes that his status as defending champion would help him today. “I know I can win here,” he said after yesterday’s round. “It puts a lot of good thoughts into my head.” Floyd, aged 40, the winner in 1976, said: “I hope I will continue to play disciplined, the way I have the first three rounds.” Told it had just been announced that the first prize would be $90,000, almost 50 per cent higher than last year, Floyd raised his eyebrows and said: “Ninety thousand? Hmm. I’ll sleep better tonight.” Ballesteros, the 1980 champion, underlined the importance of patience: “I’ll just try to be cool and concentrate on my game
and wait for something to happen,” he said. Watson, admitting that his normally dependable putting had become erratic, said he had to improve this part of his game. “To win the tournament I‘ve got to putt a lot better than I have in the first three rounds,” said Watson, the present U.S. and British Open champion, who won the Masters in 1977 and 1981. Mudd, aged 22, who turned professional last year immediately after setting an amateur record of 67 in the Masters, said he could play his own game in the presence of such illutrious company: “Those guys don’t intimidate me,” he said. Gil Morgan, the secondround leader, and Keith Fergus were still in the hunt at 213, one ahead of Tsuneyuki Nakajima of Japan. Nakajima, previously best known for the 13 he took at the thirteenth hole in his 1978 Masters debut, had strings of five successive birdies in the second round and three in a row yesterday. Greg Norman (Australia), Lee Trevino and Tom Kite all had an outside chance at 215, but Hal Sutton, Ben Crenshaw, Lanny Wadkins and Britain’s Nick Faldo probably had too much ground to make up at 216. Leaders after the third round are210—Raymond Floyd 67, 72,
71; Craig Stadler 69, 72, 69. 211— Seve Ballesteros (Spain) 68, 70, 73. 212— Tom Watson 70, 71, 71; Jody Mudd 72, 68, 72. 213— Keith Fergus 70, 69, 74; Gil Morgan 67, 70, 76. 214— Tsuneyuki Nakajima (Japan) 72, 70, 72. 215— Lee Trevino 71, 72, 72; Tom Kite 70, 72, 73; Johnny Miller 72, 72, 71; Jay Haas 73, 69, 73; George Archer 71, 73, 71; Scott Simpson 70, 73, 72; Greg Norman (Australia) 71, 74, 70. 216— Nick Faldo (Britain) 70, 70, 76; Lanny Wadkins 73, 70, 73; Wayne Levi 72, 70, 74. 216— Hal Sutton 73, 73, 70; Ben Crenshaw 76, 70, 70; J. C. Snead 68, 74, 74; Dan Pohl 74, 72, 70. 217— Hale Irwin 72, 73, 72; Gary Hallberg 71, 71, 75; Scott Hoch 74, 69, 74. 218— Tom Weiskopf 75, 72, 71; Arnold Palmer 68, 74, 76. 219— Andy North 72, 75, 72; James Hallet (amateur) 68, 73, 78. 220— Mark Hayes 71, 73, 76; Peter Jacobsen 73, 71, 76; Fuzzy Zoeller 70, 74, 76; Jack Renner 67, 75, 78; Peter Oosterhuis (Britain) 73, 69, 78; Isao Aoki (Japan) 70, 76, 74. 221— John Mahaffey 72, 75, 74. 222— Bob Gilder 72, 74, 76; Charles Coody 68, 75, 79; Fred Couples 73, 68, 81; Yutaka Hagawa (Japan) 72, 75, 75. 223— Chip Beck 71, 76. 76. 224— Payne Stewart 70, 76, 78. 225— David Graham (Australia) 71, 74, 80; Danny Edwards 70, 76, 79; Mick Nicolette 73, 74, 78; Gabe Brewer 72, 73, 80. 226— Bruce Lietzke 69, 75, 82. 229—80 b Shearer (Australia) 70, 77, 82; Calvin Peete 70, 72, 87.
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