Golf Roundup : Jan Stephenson Shoots 69, Trails Bob Gilder by Two

Bob Gilder went on an early birdie binge to register his second straight round of 67 Friday and take the 36-hole lead in the $250,000 Spalding Invitational golf tournament at Carmel Valley with a score of 134.

Gilder birdied six of his first seven holes at Carmel Valley Country Club for a 31 on the first nine of his four-under-par round.

Trailing the leader by two strokes was Jan Stephenson, one of the six women professionals competing in the event, using the ladies’ tees. Stephenson shot a three-under-par 69 at Pebble Beach for a two-day total of 136.

Although she was two strokes behind Gilder, the two actually were tied at seven under par because of the par differences in the courses they have played.

Third at 137 was John Inman, who added a par 71 at Carmel Valley to his opening 66 at Carmel Valley Ranch.

There was a five-way tie at 138 among Graham Cowan, Bill Glasson, Jay Overton, former champion Bobby Clampett and Ron Stilten.

First-round leader Lennie Clements, who had posted a course- and tournament-record 62 Thursday at Carmel Valley, soared to a 77 at Pebble Beach and was tied at 139 with Johnny Miller and Howard Clark.

“I hit the ball good, and finally some putts went in,” Gilder said. “I was happy with the way my swing feels, and the round came as quite a surprise because I haven’t played golf in 3 1/2 weeks.”

British Open champion Nick Faldo shot a six-under-par 66 to take the first round lead in the $360,000 Sanctuary Cove International tournament at Gold Coast, Australia.

Faldo has a one-shot lead over Curtis Strange, West German Bernhard Langer and Australians Rodger Davis and Jeff Senior. Raymond Floyd and David Ishii were among a group at 69.

The first round of the tournament was washed out Thursday by heavy rain.