Eagle on 18th Gives Strange 2-Shot Lead

Curtis Strange made a 25-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole Saturday to grab a two-stroke lead over Greg Norman in the third round of the $650,000 Canadian Open at Oakville, Canada.

Norman shared the lead with Strange going to the water-guarded par-five 18th hole on the Glen Abbey course near Toronto, and both reached the green in two.

Norman, the defending champion and leader through the first two rounds, had an opportunity to match Strange’s eagle. But his 30-foot putt hit the lip, spun out and drifted about six feet away. And he missed the next putt.

The three-putt par finished off a round of 73.

The closing eagle by Strange, already the winner of two titles and $433,574 this year, finished off a round of 68 and gave him a 206 total on the course that was lashed by a severe afternoon thunderstorm.

Jack Nicklaus, who designed the course as a permanent home for this national championship, surged into contention with a six-under-par 66, his best round of the year, and was three strokes behind the leader.

Nicklaus hasn’t won in more than a year and has never won a Canadian Open.

Another stroke back of Nicklaus were Fuzzy Zoeller, Larry Mize and Bruce Lietzke, a two-time Canadian Open winner.

At White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Don January moved closer to becoming the PGA Seniors Tour’s first million-dollar winner after shooting a six-under-par 66 to win the inaugural $200,000 Greenbrier championship.

January, 55, finished at 200 to win by two strokes over Lee Elder. Harold Henning, who trailed by one stroke heading into the final round of the 54-hole tournament, finished at 204.

January’s $30,000 check boosted his Seniors Tour winnings since 1980 to $998,890.

Jimmy Powell of Dallas, who finished fourth with a 207, shot a 62 to set records for both the Greenbrier course and the Seniors Tour. Powell made three eagles, five birdies and one bogey on the 6,709-yard layout.

At Sugar Land, Tex., JoAnne Carner, who started the day five strokes off the pace, charged past 36-hole leader Amy Alcott with a four-under-par 68 to take a one-shot lead at 210 after three rounds of the $300,000 LPGA Hall of Fame tournament.

Alcott, who had been steadily pulling away from the field in the first two rounds, faded with a 74 for a 54-hole total of 211.

Nancy Lopez, playing in the same threesome with Carner and Alcott, posted a steady 72 for a 213 total. Lopez had started the day in second place, two strokes behind Alcott.

At St. Germaine-En-Laye, France, Severiano Ballesteros shot a seven-under-par 64 to take a seven-stroke lead after three rounds of the $100,000 French Open. Ballesteros’ total was 194.

Tied for second at 201 were Scots Sam Torrance and Sandy Lyle, who shot 68’s.

Duffy Waldorf of Tarzana, ahead by seven strokes going into the final round, won the Rice Planters Amateur tournament at Mt. Pleasant, S.C., but not before being forced into a two-hole playoff with Brian Watts.

Watts, a sophomore at Oklahoma State, made up five shots in the final five holes with a six-under-par 66 to tie Waldorf, who had a 73, at 275. Watts missed a short downhill birdie effort on the second playoff hole, which Waldorf, formerly of UCLA, birdied for the victory.