Golf Roundup : Couples Responds to Challenge, Leads by Two

Golfer Fred Couples wasn’t intimidated by being paired with Greg Norman and Ben Crenshaw Saturday. In fact, he was so loose that he set a Byron Nelson tournament 54-hole record.

Couples’ six-under-par 64 gave him a record 14-under-par 196 and a two-shot lead over Crenshaw and Bob Lohr after three rounds of the tournament at Irving, Tex.

“It was a great pairing,” Couples said. “It helped me to be with Ben and Greg because they bring your game to a higher level. If you don’t play well, they just run right by you. I had a good day.”

Couples frequently outdrove Norman, causing the shorter-hitting Crenshaw to remark, “It was just incredible watching those two guys going at it. They hit some unbelievable drives.”

Couples said he plays a lot like Norman.

“When I’m putting and playing well, I feel I can shoot anything,” said the unpredictable Couples after a birdie binge that included five on the back nine.

He said it will take another low score to win the tournament today.

“It might take a 62 or 63 to win the way the guys are shooting this week,” Couples said. “The conditions are perfect, and the greens are great.”

Crenshaw agreed. “If the wind doesn’t blow, everybody will be making birdies left and right,” he said.

The previous 54-hole Nelson record was 199 by Bob Gilder in 1982.

Couples started the day a shot behind Crenshaw, Lohr, Donnie Hammond and Tom Byrum.

Couples had seven birdies and a bogey, including three birdies in a row on the back nine.

Crenshaw shot a 67, as did Lohr.

Norman’s charge fell short when he incurred a penalty shot after a poor drive on the par-4, 390-yard 14th and took a double-bogey 6. The irate Norman, the current British Open champion, then three-putted the par-5 16th hole after reaching the green in two.

Norman shot a 67 and was at 199, along with Hammond, who had a 68.

Mark O’Meara, who had his second straight 64, was at 200 with Byrum, who had a 69.

Cindy Hill isn’t banking on Nancy Lopez stumbling again in the near future. Neither is Lopez.

“I hope I strike the ball better tomorrow; I’ll have to,” Hill said after a double bogey by Lopez on the 18th hole gave Hill a one-shot lead going into today’s final round of the United Virginia Bank tournament at Suffolk, Va.

Hill, who won last week in St. Petersburg, Fla., and came within one stroke of the tournament record here Friday with a seven-under-par 65, shot a 72 that included four birdies and four bogeys.

Lopez and Sherri Turner were tied for second behind Hill, whose two-day total is 137.

Lopez, who began the day five shots behind Hill, took the lead with an eagle on the par-4 ninth hole when she holed her approach shot from 115 yards away.

She held the lead until her double bogey on the final hole.

Turner, a fourth-year member of the tour who is seeking her first victory, had a 67 on the 6,151-yard Portsmouth Golf Course.

Chi Chi Rodriguez shot a five-under-par 67 to take a one-shot lead after two rounds of the $250,000 Vantage Dominion PGA Seniors tournament at San Antonio, Tex.

Rodriguez had a 134 total.

J.C. Goosie, surprise first-round leader with a 64, shot a 71 and was in second place. Billy Casper, who also had a 67, was next at 136.