Golf Roundup : 2 Chip-Ins Help Blackmar Shoot 64 and Take Lead

Phil Blackmar sank a pair of 40-foot chip shots on the back side Friday en route to a seven-under-par 64 and a one-stroke lead in the rain-delayed opening round of the $300,000 Pensacola Open golf tournament at Pensacola, Fla.

First-round play was suspended by showers Thursday afternoon with half the field still on the 7,093-yard Perdido Bay course. The second round will be played today, with 36 holes set for Sunday.

Curt Byrum, Jeff Sluman and Ernie Gonzalez, all seeking a PGA Tour victory for the first time, shot 65s Thursday. John Cook, playing with Blackmar Friday, also shot a 65 and joined the group with the help of an eagle 3 at the 508-yard 11th hole.

Blackmar, whose only win came in the 1985 Greater Hartford Open, sank an eight-foot birdie putt at No. 6 to make the turn in 34, then blitzed the back side in six-under-par 30. His chip-ins came with an 8-iron at No. 12 and with a sand wedge at No. 16.

Two shots back were Wayne Grady, Rex Caldwell, Bob Murphy, Leonard Thompson, Donnie Hammond, Peter Jacobsen, Kenny Knox, Mark Brooks and Tom Byrum, Curt’s older brother.

Two rookies and two veterans on the PGA Senior Tour shot four-under-par 68s to share a one-stroke lead in the first round of the $175,000 Fairfield Barnett tournament at Melbourne, Fla.

Chi Chi Rodriguez and Dale Douglass are the rookies tied with Miller Barber and Bob Erickson at the Suntree Country Club.

Billy Casper, Joe Jiminez and Jim Ferree fired 69s to tie for fifth in the 51-player field.

Australian rookie Brett Ogle shot a six-under-par 66 to take the lead after two rounds of the $63,000 Queensland Open at Tweed Heads, Australia.

Ogle’s total of 135 moved him two shots ahead of Australia’s Greg Norman and Jeff Woodland and New Zealand’s Bruce Soulsby. Norman had a 70, Woodland a 73 and Soulsby a 72.