Golf Roundup : Match Goes Tway’s Way; Watson Upset

Bob Tway advanced easily, while Tom Watson was upset Thursday in the first round of the Seiko Match Play Championship at Tucson.

Tway, already assured of PGA Player of the Year honors, moved closer to the money-winning title with his 68-75 victory over Brett Upper in the final official event on the 10-month PGA Tour.

Watson, who disqualified himself for an inadvertent breach of the rules last week in San Antonio, was ousted by David Edwards, 66-72.

Tway needs only a win over Steve Pate in today’s second round to clinch the money-winning title.

Tway, who won the PGA national championship and three other titles this season, needs $5,517 to surpass Greg Norman’s leading $635,296. A second-round victory will assure Tway of a minimum $12,500. Norman is not competing in this event.

Pate, Tway’s second-round opponent, was seven-under par through the first 14 holes and eventually beat Craig Stadler, 65-68.

Russ Cochran birdied the final hole to cap a first round of six-under-par 66 and take a one-shot lead in the $200,000 Tallahassee Open.

Cochran sank a five-foot putt on No.18 to put him one stroke ahead of Bob E. Smith and Danny Briggs.

At Tokyo, the United States defeated Japan by three strokes, while Koichi Suzuki of Japan shot a course record-tying 65 to take the individual lead after the opening round of the $406,250 ABC Cup.

Nine players from the United States and nine from Japan are competing in the annual tournament on the par-72, 6,822-yard Shinko Country Club course in Hyogo.

In the team play, in which the low eight scores were counted, the U.S. defeated Japan, 566-569.