Clark and Spencer-Devlin Share Dinah Shore Lead

Judy Clark and Muffin Spencer-Devlin, two young women who have been on the Ladies Professional Golf Assn. circuit for six years or more without winning, shot into the halfway lead Friday in the $400,000 Nabisco Dinah Shore tournament.

Spencer-Devlin, who is often asked if she is married to Bruce Devlin, although she is not married at all, shot a five-under-par 67 and Clark had a 68 to wind up at seven-under-par 137 for 36 holes at the Mission Hills Country Club.

Denise Strebig of San Bernardino, a 1982 graduate of USC, also shot a 67. It was a career record for the former Southern California junior champion and moved her into a tie for sixth place at 139 with two Australians--Jane Crafter (a 70 Friday) and Jan Stephenson (68).

Two of the strongest players in the LPGA--Player of the Year Betsy King (68) and LPGA champion Patty Sheehan (69)--are one shot behind the leaders. Also at 138 is Alice Miller (68).

U.S. Women’s Open champion Hollis Stacy shot a 68 to stand alone at 140.

Further back in the tightly bunched pack are Pat Bradley (74) and first-round leader Myra Blackwelder (76) at 144; Nancy Lopez (69) at 145; JoAnne Carner (73), Kathy Whitworth (74) and Donna Caponi (75) at 146, and defending champion Juli Inkster (74) and Amy Alcott (74) at 147.

Spencer-Devlin, who was an actress and model in New York City before joining the tour in 1979, is one of the most unusual players on the women’s tour. Her name is a combination of her father’s and stepfather’s names. She is student of Zen, a Buddhist sect that practices self-discipline; she used to hang upside down to relax “until the hotel managers complained because I drilled holes for my rods in their doorjambs.” And she is a director of the Pacific Whale Foundation in Hawaii.

When she fails to hit a shot properly, Spencer-Devlin says she “skinked it.” She skinked quite a few Friday before she got hot with an eagle on the 485-yard 11th hole.

“I could say I got my inspiration from Jan (Stephenson) because she hit a 5-iron shot into the cup for an eagle on the 10th hole,” Spencer-Devlin said, “but that wouldn’t be right. I can’t truthfully say I planned to eagle the 11th, but I hit my best drive of the day and had 224 yards left to the pin. I hit my 3-wood six feet past the hole and sank the putt for the eagle and took off from there.”

She hit a “funky drive” (that’s better than “skinky”) on the next hole and asked her caddy what she did wrong.

“He told me I was rushing my shot and lifting my driver, that I should take it away low and slow. From then on, only good things happened.”

Spencer-Devlin birdied three of the next four holes, sinking putts of 33 (“I paced it off, exactly 11 paces”), 30 and 12 feet.

“Funny thing, Bruce Devlin told me that when I shoot a low score, people come up to him and say, ‘Hey, nice round your wife shot.’ ”

Clark, whose trademark since joining the tour in 1978 has been a fashionable straw hat she wears while playing, switched to a white visor this week, and the way things are going, she may stay with it.

Like Spencer-Devlin, her day started at the 11th hole, although Clark made only a birdie.

“I had been playing solidly but I couldn’t get a putt to drop,” Clark said. “When I made that birdie on 11, it got my confidence up, and I made some more.”

Clark credited a new driver for her steady play. She came across the driver at Costa Mesa during the Uniden tournament.

“I broke my favorite driver last year and had been struggling to find a new one that I liked,” she said. “Your driver is so important because it sets up your whole game. Since I found another one I liked, I’ve been playing much better.”

It was easy to find Strebig, for she had her own gallery of about 100 friends from the Arrowhead Country Club and old school chums from San Bernardino and USC. Many of them were wearing buttons that read, “Denise’s Fans.”

“I loved it,” Strebig said. “I enjoy playing in front of a big gallery, and it was nice having so much support from friends.”

After a bogey on the third hole, Strebig made six birdies and scrambled to save par on four other holes.

Even though she grew up about 60 miles from Mission Hills, she had never played the course before last Thursday.

“There isn’t any junior golf in Palm Springs, so I never played much down here and not at all at Mission Hills,” she said. “I sure like it so far, though. I’ve made a lot of birdies, and I just hope the course suits me for the next two days.”

Strebig’s best finish in two years on the tour is a tie for third last year at Portland, an accomplishment that made her eligible for Dinah’s tournament. Her only teacher as a junior was the late Gail Stockton, Dave Stockton’s father. After his father died, Dave began working with Strebig and introduced her to his instructor, Chuck Cook of Austin, Tex.

“I played poorly two weeks ago in the GNA in Glendale,” Strebig said, “and I was in panic over a couple of things. I got a lesson on the phone from Cook last Friday, and, after I talked with him, it all turned around for me.”

The 36-hole cut at 151 left 78 pros and U.S. Amateur champion Deb Richard in the tournament.