Hawaiian Open : Stadler’s Record-Tying 62 Shoots Him Into Top Spot

Craig Stadler tied the course record with a 10-under-par 62 and was glowering in indignation after missing a putt on the 18th hole.

Curtis Strange shot 64 and was an angry man when he stalked into the scorer’s tent.

Lanny Wadkins shot a bogey-free round of five-under-par 67, but the expression on his face was an eloquent statement of disgust.

With the Waialae Country Club course robbed of its natural defenses by the absence of wind, phenomenally low scores were the order of the day during the third round of the $600,000 Hawaiian Open Saturday.

Stadler’s 62, which he said could have been better, tied the course record set by Nick Faldo of Britain and Hale Irwin in 1981, and gave him a one-shot lead over Paul Azinger going into today’s final round of the chase for a $108,000 first prize.

“It could have been better; it could have been anything. But I’ll definitely take what I got,” said Stadler, who finished off a string of five consecutive birdies with a pair of 30-foot putts followed by a chip-in from 25-30 yards on the 17th.

He takes a 200 total, 16 under par, into the final round.

Azinger, who scored his first PGA Tour victory last month in Phoenix, was at 201 after a 65.

Fred Couples, who shared the second-round lead, battled back from a double-bogey and salvaged a 68 that left him at 202.

Strange, Wadkins and John Cook were next at 204. Cook had 10 birdies in a 64. Strange also had a 64, which included a bogey-6 on the final hole, where he took two to get out of a bad lie in a bunker.

“I was thinking 62 all the way,” Strange said. “It’s just terrible to have a round like that going then not shoot 62 or 63.”