DINAH SHORE GOLF TOURNAMENT : Bradley and King Rise to the Top of a Well-Populated Leader Board

It took 54 holes and three days to do it, but finally the Nabisco Dinah Shore golf tournament has separated the weak from the champs.

Pat Bradley and Betsy King, the top two money leaders last year on the Ladies Professional Golf Assn. tour, have struggled to the top to lead the tournament by two strokes with just 18 holes to play.

Bradley shot a three-under par 79 to tie King for the lead at 215. King shot a 72.

A final-round victory for either, however, is not a lock. The leader board is a veritable who’s who of the LPGA with five players tied for second and four in third. Nancy Lopez, who shot a 74 on Saturday, is the only big name not within a sand wedge of the lead.

Both Bradley and King called it a logjam, obviously a word they teach in LPGA tour school since neither has spent a lot of time in timber country.

Bradley and King seem inexorably connected when the tour is discussed. For example, besides being first and second last year in money earned, they were:

--First and second in top 10 finishes, Bradley with 17, King with 16.

--Tied for the best 18 hole score last year, along with Judy Dickinson, with 63s.

--Tied for the lowest final round of a tournament, also with 63s.

--First and second in the lowest scoring average. Bradley averaged 71.10 and King 71.75 shots a round. Lopez’s average was lower but she didn’t play enough tournaments.

--First and second in the Mazda-LPGA point standings, with Bradley winning.

Bradley won this tournament last year and won last week in Phoenix.

“It was very much a catch-up day, a day to take advantage of the low winds,” said Bradley, alluding to Friday’s round in which the wind gusted to 40 m.p.h. “If I can play as solidly as I played today, and stay in control, I should have no problems.”

That statement probably sounds a little more bold than Bradley actually meant it, but she said it.

Besides King, other reasons that statement may be strong include the group at one-over-par, two shots back. Chris Johnson, who shot the low round of the day, a 66, Amy Alcott, Jan Stephenson, Jane Geddes and Rosie Jones are easily in contention.

Three shots back are Patty Sheehan, Cathy Gerring, Ayako Okamoto and Lisa Young. OK, so they’re not all big names, but they can play the game well.

It should make for an interesting finish. But, as King points out, some of the fans in attendance at Mission Hills Country Club (Saturday there were 12,706) might not know how interesting it is.

King was unhappy at the lack of scoreboards on the front nine.

“There are no scoreboards on the front nine,” she said. “I get to 10 (on Saturday) and suddenly see that I’m up by two strokes. It makes a difference in how you play. If you’re down two or three shots and you see someone ripping it up, you play differently.” Both Bradley and King had opportunities to be in the lead by themselves. King bogied the par-3 17th hole when she three-putted from 45 feet. Bradley bogied the 18th hole when she took three putts from 40 feet.

Bradley’s round was very consistent with only that one bogey. She birdied the first, sixth, 11th and 12th holes.

King, meanwhile, went through a wide range of emotions with birdies on 5, 6, 10 and 11. She had bogeys on 6, 12, 15 and 17.

The wind wasn’t a major factor on Saturday as it had been on Friday. However, it did start to gust for the later groups, which served to bring the field closer together.

“I think somebody’s going to come out of the pack,” King said. “From the position everyone is in, it will take a round in the 60s to win.”

Bradley agrees. “I don’t think it (the final round) will be a runaway. Everyone is so thickly bunched anyone can win,” she said.

“I have a tremendous amount of confidence, more than I did last year at this point,” Bradley said. Last year, Bradley had a three-shot lead over Juli Inkster going into the final round.

“I have a little better feeling than I did last year. . . . (But I feel confident) because I won last year and last week. Last week helps a lot.

“It doesn’t make any difference whether I’m ahead, tied or behind. I’ve got to play my game. I can’t worry about who’s ahead of me or behind me or it’s a distraction.”

Of course, Bradley won’t have that problem on the front nine, where an information blackout exists.

Maybe Nabisco was just trying to look out for the best interests, after all.