Whitworth’s Round Worth Remembering : Veteran Plays Like Old Days, With 67 for Second-Place Tie

At 6:30 Wednesday morning--half an hour before the Kyocera Inamori pro-am was scheduled to start--Kathy Whitworth was playing nine holes at the Bernardo Heights Country Club.

Whitworth, the all-time leading female winner with 88 victories, was not among the top 54 pros invited to play in the pro-am. So she had to prepare for the tournament on her own.

That didn’t seem to bother Whitworth, who shot a five-under-par 67 in the first round Thursday to tie with Tammy Fredrickson, one shot behind leader Ayako Okamoto. The round was a career best for Fredrickson.

“I’ve always enjoyed what I’m doing,” said Whitworth, 47. “Sometimes I think, ‘What would you do if you quit?’ Then this (not playing well) doesn’t seem so bad, and you go out and hit some more practice balls.”

Thursday’s round was Whitworth’s best in almost two years. And it was only two shots off her best round in 28 years on the LPGA Tour.

“Any time you play well you’re thrilled,” said Whitworth, “but it means more to me now than it did 20 years ago. Now it’s a quiet excitement. I don’t need the rah-rah anymore.”

Missie McGeorge and Penny Hammel both shot 68. Janet Anderson, Pat Bradley, Denise Strebig and Julie Cole are at 69.

Whitworth’s performance was reminiscent of the days when she dominated the tour.

She was the LPGA’s leading money-winner eight times and player of the year seven times. She was the first to reach $1,000,000 in career winnings and had earned $1,666,762 before this season. She was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1975.

But Whitworth’s last victory was in the United Virginia Bank Classic in May 1985.

This season, Whitworth missed the cut in five tournaments, finished in a tie for 60th in two others (Sarasota Classic and Circle K in Tucson) and in a tie for 43rd in last week’s Nabisco Dinah Shore. Whitworth has earned approximately $3,000 this season.

As with many older players, Whitworth finds her primary problem has been consistent putting. On Thursday, that was her strength.

“I didn’t hit the ball that well,” Whitworth said, “but I made every putt I looked at. I’ve been putting so poorly for two years that this was a nice surprise.”

Whitworth sank birdie putts of 30 feet on the first hole, 10 feet on the third, 20 feet on the eighth, six feet on the 11th and 25 feet on the 16th.

Never a big hitter, Whitworth was consistently driving the ball 10 to 15 yards shorter than the other members of her threesome, Patty Sheehan (the defending champion, who shot a two-under 70) and Sherri Turner (71).

“Playing with those two big hitters,” Whitworth said, “I felt like Polyanna.”

But she made up for a lack of distance with solid putting on slick greens that became harder as the day got hotter.

“I putt better on fast greens than slow greens,” Whitworth said.

As for the 88-degree heat, “the hotter, the better,” said Whitworth, who lives in Roanoke, Tex. “I love it (the heat). I’m in pretty good shape.”

She said most players “look at me as old. There’s no question I’m old . . .

“I don’t stand in the locker room and hold court every afternoon, but I think they respect what I’ve done. They acknowledge my history and ability, but I don’t think they stand back in awe.

“Today was certainly an encouraging sign,” Whitworth said, “but I told the girls, ‘I hate to think what will happen tomorrow.’ ”