Stadler Takes a Bad Fall, Then Rises to the Top : Despite Sore Hip and Wrist, He Shoots a 65 and Shares Hope Lead With Mize

For most of Wednesday evening, Craig Stadler was more concerned about whether he could finish the Bob Hope Chrysler golf tournament than how he would score in it.

The former Masters champion had finished practicing after his first-round 67 at Eldorado when he slipped and fell on a cement bridge while heading for the parking lot.

“I was lucky I didn’t break anything,” Stadler said Thursday. “I damn near broke my hip. I hit on my right hip and broke the fall with my right hand. I could have broken my wrist, too. I really took a header. I could barely walk last night, and my hip hurts real bad. I mean, real bad.

“Fortunately, it doesn’t bother me when I swing a club.”

Obviously not. Stadler, despite a stiff right wrist and a painful right hip, shot a seven-under-par 65 at Indian Wells and shared the 36-hole lead with Larry Mize, who had a 66 at Bermuda Dunes.

Stadler started his round on the 10th hole and bogeyed it when he missed the green with a 7-iron second shot. It was his only bogey in two days.

“After that, I didn’t miss a green all day,” Stadler said. “My irons were exceptionally sharp, and when you drive it in the fairway down here, it’s tough not to make birdies.”

He had eight.

“I’m working on some swing changes and I was excited when I shot a 67 at Eldorado yesterday because I haven’t played well over there. I had some trouble off the tee today but I hit it in some places I could play from. I’ve played well over the years here and have played enough to know how to work myself around the course.”

Stadler scored his first tour victory here in 1980 and last year lost in a playoff with Lanny Wadkins after both had shattered the record for the 90-hole tournament with 27-under-par scores.

“With the way the weather is, and the courses in the condition they are, I would think it would take at least 25 under par to win,” he said of this year’s tournament. “Maybe even that won’t be enough. I was 27 under last year, and it wasn’t enough.”

Mize, who finished fifth in the Hope last year, said the key to scoring well in this four-course tournament is adjusting to different greens.

“The texture of the greens at Bermuda Dunes was quite different from Indian Wells (where he shot a 66 Wednesday), and it took me a few holes to adjust,” he said. “Later today, I’m going over to Eldorado, where I play Friday, and practice putting there for about an hour.”

Neither Stadler nor Mize won a tournament last year, although both were among the top 20 on the money list. Stadler earned $297,926 and Mize $231,041.

“Last year was my best money- winning year, but I was disappointed not to win a tournament,” Mize said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to get in the winner’s circle this year.”

One shot behind Stadler and Mize, after shooting a 64 at Indian Wells, was Donnie Hammond, who is still looking for his first tour win after setting a record low score in the 1982 qualifying school.

“This was the best 18 holes I’ve played in a long time,” Hammond said. “Making a couple of long putts helped out.”

Hammond rolled in a 45-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole and made a 20-footer on No. 7. Twice during his nine-birdie, one-bogey round, the slender Floridian had stretches of four birdies in a row. He also birdied all four of the par-three holes.

Peter Oosterhuis, the former Briton who lost his playing card despite career earnings of $720,834, shot a course-record 31-32--63 at Bermuda Dunes, nine strokes under par on the 6,837-yard layout. Arnold Palmer, a five-time Hope winner, held the old record of 64.

Oosterhuis had 10 birdies, 7 pars and only 1 bogey, that on the 16th hole. The 63 followed a 75 Wednesday, so Oosterhuis, who ives in Santa Barbara, was tied for 19th at 138, six shots behind the leaders.

A six-time member of the British Ryder Cup team, Oosterhuis has won 19 international tournaments, including the French Open, and twice was runner-up in the British Open, but when he dropped to No. 130 on the PGA money list last year he lost his Tour card. He also failed to qualify in last fall’s tour school.

He might have been closer to the leaders but for an unfortunate incident Wednesday at Indian Wells. After completing the front nine with a one-under-par 35, Oosterhuis was unnerved when a telephone rang during his backswing on the 10th tee.

Oosterhuis bogeyed that hole and the next, then limped home with a 40 on the back nine.

Also at 138 was Nathaniel Crosby, youngest son of the late Bing Crosby, who is playing in his second PGA event as a pro.

John Cook, who lives in nearby Rancho Mirage, celebrated the birth of his third child with rounds of 68-67 at Bermuda Dunes and La Quinta. Jason John, who joins Kristin, 4, and Courtney, 21 months, was born last Friday night.

Cook shares the 135 slot, tied for fourth, with first-round leaders Hal Sutton and Bob Tway, who had 70s at La Quinta, and Gary Koch, who had a 68 at La Quinta.