Trevino leads golf

Press, 20 August 1984, Page 40

Trevino leads golf

NZPA-AP Birmingham Lee Trevino,. apparently poised to make a rout of it, squandered two strokes in the placid pond by the eighteenth green but still retained a one-shot advantage yesterday after three rounds of the United States Professional Golfers’ Association national championship at Birmingham, Alabama. Trevino, aged 44, grinding away in grim-faced pursuit of his first victory in more than three full seasons, salvaged a 5-under-par 67 despite a five-six finish over the treacherous Shoal Creek club course. A brilliant 30 over the front side put him four shots clear of the field most of the hot, humid day, but the faltering finish turned a potential runaway lead into a race going into today’s final round. Trevino, who now spends as much time as a television commentator as he does as an active player, finished three trips over the deep, wiry, punishing rough in 204,12 strokes under par. His double bogey from the-water on the eighteenth opened the gate to a host of challengers, with an old friend and golfing foe, Gary

Player, and the dangerous Lanny Wadkins in the forefront. Wadkins, who bounced one out of the water and saved par on the seventeenth, had a 68 that left him a single shot off the pace at 205. The 48-year-old Player ran a 16m putt through 5m of fringe and into the cup on the sixteenth for a ; vital birdie in his round of (0 that left him at 206. / Tommy Nakajima, of

Japan, now a regular on the American tour, and Larry Mize were next at 207. Each had a third-round 67. Gary Hallberg and Ray Floyd, twice a winner of this title, each had a 68 and were at 208, .very much within striking distance. Seve Ballesteros, of Spain, the British Open champion who has made an art-form of escape from apparent disaster, made great saves on both the seventeenth and eighteenth for a 70 that left him at 209. The defending champion, Hal Sutton, playing a couple of hours in front of Trevino, scored seven birdies and an eagle on the way to a 64 that lifted him to a 211 total, five under par. Jack Nicklaus, the architect of the course, had a 71 that left him at 218, two over par. And Tom Watson found that he will have to wait at least one more year to complete a career sweep of all the game’s major titles. Watson, the winner of five .British Opens, two Masters and the 1982 United States Open, struggled to a 74. He finished three rounds at 220 and out of the chase for the.only major Crown he has not won.