Golf Roundup : Zoeller Finds Calm in Storm to Lead at 70

Perhaps Fuzzy Zoeller found the eye of the storm.

He overcame gusty winds and damp greens left by an overnight thunderstorm to shoot a two-under-par 70 Thursday and take a one-stroke lead in the first round of the Federal Express St. Jude golf tournament at Memphis, Tenn.

“It was a long and difficult course today and it was difficult to pull out the right club,” said Zoeller, who had one of only six subpar rounds. “I’m very pleased to get in under par. It was howling out there pretty good.”

Howard Twitty, Joey Sindelar, Gary Hallberg, Payne Stewart and Mike Hulbert were at 71, and Bobby Wadkins, Lon Hinkle, Bobby Cole and George Archer were another stroke back.

The thunderstorm, accompanied by 65-m.p.h. winds, left the 7,282-yard Colonial Country Club course littered with downed trees, broken branches and a overturned portable toilets.

By the time the first threesomes teed off, most of the debris had been cleared by 300 volunteers who worked through the night.

But the day turned up damp and chilly. Temperatures, which were in the mid-90s during Wednesday’s pro-am, fell into the 60s.

“It really was a tough day with the wind, and the fairways were wet,” Stewart said. “So you were not getting the distance with your drives.”

Defending champion Hal Sutton finished with an 80, and PGA champion Bob Tway had a 76.

Mitch Voges of Simi Valley upset two-time champion Jay Sigel of Berwyn, Pa., with an eight-foot birdie putt on the 20th hole in the first round of the 86th U.S. Amateur Championship at Birmingham, Ala.

“I’m humbled and feel very good,” said Voges, who rallied after losing the first three holes.

Sigel, who won the British Amateur in 1979 and the U.S. Amateur in 1982 and 1983, said: “You really can’t be upset if you play well and lose.”

Medalist Len Mattiace of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and Wake Forest University, beat Rex Kuramoto of Stillwater, Okla., 2 up.