Golf Roundup : Norman, Gallagher Lead in Canada; Miller One Back

Defending champion Greg Norman and little-known Jim Gallagher each fired an opening-round 67 Thursday to share a one-stroke lead in the $650,000 Canadian Open at Oakville, Canada.

Johnny Miller, who has not won in two years, had a 68. He recently completed a Sports Enhancement Assn. course that he claims helped him come within three shots of the winner at both the U.S. Open and the Memphis Open. Thursday, his “alpha waves” were as smooth as his game.

“My brain waves have to level off,” he said. “What I have to try to do is get them calm. I’m pinpointing for this tournament. I’m going to really push to win.”

Norman had five birdies and two bogeys in his round on the Ontario course.

Gallagher, 24, a second-year pro, has won two events and $70,000 on the Tournament Players’ Series, the satellite spinoff of the PGA Tour.

Grouped at 69 were Pat McGowan, Brett Upper, two-time Canadian Open winner Bruce Lietzke, Bob Tway, Allen Miller and the year’s leading money-winner, Curtis Strange.

Jack Nicklaus, who has finished second in the Canadian Open six times but never won it, opened with a 70.

At Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, Severiano Ballesteros of Spain shot a nine-under-par 62, breaking the course record, in the opening round of the $100,000 French Open golf tournament.

Ballesteros’ round included nine birdies and no bogeys, and was his lowest round ever on the European pro tour.

Benoit Ducoulombier, an Australian-born Frenchman who has not gained his tour card, shot a 64 for second place.

Harold Henning, a South African, who joined the Seniors Tour last October, shot a five-under-par 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Howie Johnson and Lee Elder in a $200,000 tournament at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Mike Fetchick was two strokes back, while Doug Sanders, Miller Barber, George Bayer, Don January, Kel Nagle and Gordon Jones trailed by three in the 54-hole tournament.

“It’s taken a while to learn how to play with these old guys,” said Henning, who finished with six birdies and a bogey.

“The competition is getting strong out here. When a couple of other superstars join the tour next year, there will be some other guys who won’t be sleeping so well at night.”

Amy Alcott weathered a steady rain en route to a three-under-par 69 and the first-round lead in a $300,000 LPGA tournament at Sugar Land, Tex.

Alcott was one of four golfers to break par, the others being Pat Bradley, Nancy Lopez and Sally Quinlan, who were tied for second at 71.

Alcott birdied the 15th and 16th holes, and made 10-foot putts on the 17th and 18th to save par.

“This was sheer adversity,” Alcott said of the rain. “It wasn’t raining when we teed off, but we played in a steady rain for the last 16 holes. The greens really held up well. That is what allowed us to play today.”

Bradley agreed. “It wasn’t even fun for the ducks today,” she said. “I was worried about the heat down here, and we get all this rain. It’s a credit to the designer of this course that it is playable today.”

Duffy Waldorf shot a course-record 64 in the second round of the Rice Planter’s amateur tournament at Mt. Pleasant, S.C., to push his lead to eight strokes.

The former UCLA golfer from Tarzana had a one-stroke lead after Wednesday’s first round, then got nine birdies and one bogey in his record-setting round.

Eight strokes back were Kevin Whipple of Duncan, Okla.; Phillip McCormick of Augusta, Ga., and Larry Boswell of Greensboro, N.C.