Reid extends P.G.A. golf lead

Press, 14 August 1989, Page 24

Reid extends P.G.A. golf lead

NZPA-Reuter Hawthorn Woods Mike “Radar” Reid continued to hone in on his first major championship victory as he extended his lead to three shots midway through the third round of the P.G.A. golf championship, in Illinois, on Saturday. The straight-shooting Reid, known as “Radar” for his uncanny consistency, completed the front nine in two under par 34 before lightning forced a suspension of play for the second day in a row. Reid had built his score to 14 under par before a bogey at nine, just before the delay, put him at 13-under. The former Masters champion, Craig Stadler, playing in the same group as Reid, trailed the pencil-thin Reid by three strokes over the long, but placid, Kemper Lakes course. Isao Aoki, of Japan, after a brilliant round of 65, was the leader in the clubhouse at eight-under 208. Leonard Thompson was tied with Stadler until he suffered a double bogey six on the ninth hole to fall to eight-under par, a position he shared with lan Woosnam, of Britain, and Dave Rummells. Chris Perry had improved his score by two strokes through nine to stand at nine-under-par. Reid had shot a five-under-par 67 on Friday after an opening round 66, to enter the second half of the tournament — the last major championship of the year — at 11under 133. The calm at Kemper Lakes, where a lack of wind had turned the 7197-yard layout into a shooting gallery, was shattered by the storm that struck in the afternoon. Rolling thunder and bolts of lightning raised the fears ■ of players, officials and fans after a recent series of accidents at Chicago area golf courses. Three golfers at a suburban course were struck by lightning on Friday and remained in hospital in critical condition. One of four people who were hit at another nearby course during an electrical storm on Wednesday died on Friday. In all, 10 people in the area have been hit by lightning this month. In contrast to Friday, when lightning was accompanied

by little rain, this electrical storm brought a torrential downpour that figured to further delay a restart to the round.

From early on it appeared that another day of low scoring was in the offing as the Australian Greg Norman, who just made the 70-player cut at one-over 145, charged through his first 15 holes in seven-under par. The former British Open champion, however, lost two shots with a double bogey at the troublesome 16th hole and finished the day with 67 for four-under 212.

Chip Beck, a member of the United States Ryder Cup team, also made an early move. Starting at even-par, he birdied four of five holes from the fourth and had lifted himself to six-under through 15 holes before a disastrous triple bogey seven at 16.

Other players near the top of the leaderboard included Spain’s Seve Ballesteros and the Masters runner-up, Scott Hoch — both at seven-under par — on the 16th and 10th holes, respectively, when play was halted.

They were all chasing the light-hitting Reid, who suprisingly led all the big hitters on the long Kemper Lakes layout.

The quiet player from Utah ranks second-to-last in driving distance among 185 players rated on the P.G.A. Tour with an average of 245 yards — the top 10 on the list all average more than 270 yards. Reid, who carries only 68kg on his I.Bom frame, has won only twice but he is undaunted by long courses. His last victory came in last year’s World Series of golf at the 7136-yard Firestone Country club where he beat Tom Watson in a playoff. "I just try to keep hitting fairways and greens and then try to get the putts rolling,” said Reid.

Nearly everyone has been getting into the act at Kemper Lakes. The entire 150-man field that started the event, including 40 club professionals, averaged barely more than one over par after two rounds. On opening day a P.G.A. Championship record 49 subpar rounds were posted. The record lasted one day as 54 players broke par on Friday.