Golf Roundup : Mahaffey Fires 66, Ties Burns for Lead

John Mahaffey shot a five-under-par 66 Saturday to pull into a tie for the lead with George Burns at 201 after three rounds of the $400,000 Bank of Boston tournament at Sutton, Mass.

The three-round total tied a course-record set by Mahaffey in 1983.

Greg Norman was in third place at 203, with Brad Faxon fourth at 204.

“I just didn’t make as many putts as I would have liked to,” Norman said. “I didn’t putt poorly; the ball was running over the edge of the hole. It was just one of those days.

“I’m happy I was able to keep myself in contention. If I can make a few putts (in the final round), you never know what’ll happen.”

Said Faxon: “I just putted great. I probably hit the ball better the first day (when he shot par 71), but I’m learning that the difference between 65 and 71 is making a few putts.”

Burns completed his second straight bogey-free round, shooting a 68.

“I’ll take 68 around here anytime,” he said. “I missed some opportunities, but I took advantage of some, too.”

Mahaffey, who lost by a stroke to Mark Lye in 1983 after shooting a final-round 73, is planning on an aggressive round.

“Experience has a lot to do with it,” he said. “I may shoot 73 or higher again, but it won’t be for the same reasons. I’ll be going for the pin, not backing off and going for the middle of the green. I won’t do anything foolish, but with the quality of play around here, you have to play that way.”

Burns is intent on breaking away in the final round.

“I feel good about my game, but I also feel like I’m in bondage, in a way,” he said. “I’m waiting for something good to happen. It’s been my history to play well for three rounds, then get nervous and fall apart in the last round. It’s nerves or something.”

Beth Daniel and Stephanie Farwig share the lead going into the final round of the $175,000 Portland Ping tournament at Portland, Ore.

But the real winner in the second round was the Riverside Golf and Country Club course.

Four different leaders--including Daniel and Farwig, who are at two-under-par 142--dropped out of sole possession of first place at one time or another as they repeatedly got in trouble from errant drives and missed putts.

First-round leader Patty Sheehan and Nancy Lopez both nosedived out of first place during the second round.

Only three players managed to break par through 36 holes.

Lori Garbacz was an exception. She was one shot back after shooting a four-under-par 68.

Four others were at 144.

Daniel, with a 71, and Farwig, with a 72, both had erratic rounds and had chances to take the lead late in the round.

Daniel, seventh on the Ladies Professional Golf Assn. earnings list, had a double-bogey on the first hole and a bogey on the second.

She regrouped with five birdies the rest of the way and held a one-shot lead going into the 18th hole. But her tee shot sailed to the left into the trees, and a bogey dropped her into a tie with Farwig.

Lopez, the tour’s leading money winner, had a one-shot lead at four under par through nine holes, but she stumbled to a five-over-par 41 on the final nine holes for a 145.