Hallberg Takes Lead in the Masters With a 68 : Payne Stewart and Tom Watson Also Salvage Pros’ Honor

It looked for a while Thursday as if the first round of the Masters was going to turn into “Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour.”

But then a couple of lesser-known but highly visible pros recaptured center stage for the guys who make a living at this game, and Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Raymond Floyd, Billy Casper and Ben Crenshaw took it from there.

Payne Stewart was the first to break the early hold that unfabled amateurs Sam Randolph Jr. of USC and John Inman of North Carolina put on this fabled tournament when they finished their rounds tied for the lead at two-under-par 70.

If fashion were a prerequisite for winning on the Professional Golfers’ Assn. tour, Stewart would always be the leader in the clubhouse.

His green tie was a particularly nice touch, considering that is the predominant color at Augusta National. Wearing that along with his red knickers, a red Ben Hogan cap and acupuncture needles in his ears would have assured him of being noticed even if he hadn’t shot a 69.

Acupuncture needles?

What would Bobby Jones say?

Stewart’s 69 was outdone only by Gary Hallberg, also easily identifiable in his gray chapeau, which he called an “Indiana Jones hat.”

Asked if he had ever met Harrison Ford, the actor who plays Indiana Jones, Hallberg said, “No, but I’ve hit the ball in a few places where I’ve looked for him.”

Not Thursday.

He shot an unadventurous 68, proving that some of the players were wrong earlier this week when they said the course would play like The Temple of Doom.

One of them was Watson, a two-time Masters champion who was still complaining Thursday about the difficult pin placements, even though he shot a 69 that tied him for second place with Stewart.

Speaking about the particularly troublesome No. 6, where the pin was near the back of the green, Watson huffed: “I’d like to see Ben Hogan keep the ball below the hole there.”

Hogan wasn’t here, but many of the game’s other big names are. And in contention.

One shot behind Watson and Stewart are defending champion Crenshaw, Floyd, Trevino and the amateurs, Randolph and Inman. Nicklaus, Player and Casper are another shot behind at 71. Two-time champion Severiano Ballesteros is at par 72.

Who would have thought that Nicklaus, who has won here five times, would ever be trailing one of his son’s college teammates? Jack Jr., who was at home giving his dad putting tips last weekend, played with Inman at North Carolina.

Only Inman didn’t seem to be surprised.

The brother of touring pro Joe Inman, John, 22, plans to turn professional himself after this tournament. Although he isn’t quite cocky, the defending NCAA champion is extremely sure of himself.

Asked if he thought he could win here, he said: “I wouldn’t rule that out.”

His confidence didn’t prevent him from being nervous as he approached the first tee.

“I was so nervous, I couldn’t breathe,” he said. “I thought someone had turned off the oxygen.”

Randolph, a USC junior whose father is the pro at La Cumbre Country Club in Santa Barbara, was runner-up last year in the U.S. Amateur. The only time he succumbed to the pressure Thursday was on the first tee, where he hit his drive far to the right.

“When I stood over the ball, my knees were quivering,” said Randolph, 20. “It was uncomfortable. I just wanted to get the ball out of there.”

But as Inman and Randolph probably will discover in later years, it’s not only the amateurs who get jitters teeing off at the Masters.

Crenshaw, who won here last year, said he has never been more nervous at the first tee than he was Thursday.

“I’m always nervous before the first round of the Masters, but I was especially anxious today,” he said.

That could have had something to do with his play this year. In nine previous tournaments, he had missed the cut five times and had been disqualified once for turning in an incorrect scorecard.

Entering the Amen Corner--Nos. 11, 12 and 13--Crenshaw was one under par. After hitting his best drive of the day on 11, he discovered that his ball was caked in mud. Unable to control it, he hit his next shot into the water, leading to a double bogey.

Earlier this year, Crenshaw would have erupted.

This time, he turned to his caddy and said: “It’s a beautiful day. Why let this spoil it?”

He birdied three of the final seven holes.

It was a beautiful day. With the sun shining and temperatures in the high 60s, the course was firmer in the afternoon, resulting in longer drives, truer putts and lower scores.

The action was on the back nine.

Nicklaus was lagging at two over par until he made a birdie on 14 and an eagle on the par-5 15th. Watson was five under on the final eight holes. Hallberg and Stewart were three under on the back nine.

Stewart has extra incentive this year. His father, a two-time state amateur champion in Missouri who put a golf club into Stewart’s hands when he was 4, died of bone cancer a month ago.

The last time they visited, Stewart said he was going to dedicate a Masters championship to him someday.

“He said, ‘Why not this year?’ ” Stewart said after Thursday’s round.

“Maybe he left some of his spirit behind for me,” Stewart said.

He said he has been helped by his acupuncture treatments administered back home at Springfield, Mo., by Dr. F.T. H’Doubler. Stewart has needles in his left ear to relieve stress and anxiety, and in his right ear to sharpen his concentration and awareness.

When he needs a lift, he simply touches the appropriate ear and feels a sharp pain.

“It makes it tough to use the telephone,” he said.

Hallberg can’t match wardrobes with Stewart, but he can match doctors.

He said his game has improved since he began consulting Dr. Ralph Mann, the former Olympic medalist in the hurdles who has a biomechanics laboratory at Ocala, Fla.

“He works with the physics of my swing,” said Hallberg, a sixth-year pro from a suburb of Chicago.

What would Bobby Jones say?

THE MASTERS FIRST-ROUND LEADERS

Gary Hallberg 35-33--68 Tom Watson 38-31--69 Payne Stewart 36-33--69 Raymond Floyd 36-34--70 Lee Trevino 35-35--70 Ben Crenshaw 35-35--70 a-John Inman 35-35--70 a-Sam Randolph 33-37--70

a-Amateur