Pate Leads Par-Busters at La Costa

Early in his round, Steve Pate walked down the fairway and glanced up at the Tournament of Champions’ leader board.

As with just about everyone else, the task was simple. He came, he saw, he birdied.

“It seemed like everyone was under par,” Pate said.

Well, not everyone. Only half the field. It was warm, the greens were fast and the scores were low Thursday in the first round of the $500,000 Tournament of Champions at La Costa.

Pate, the 1983 All-American from UCLA, shot a 66, six under par, and led Canadian Dave Barr by a stroke. Pate made six birdies, no bogeys, didn’t miss a green and thought he hadn’t done too badly.

“That’s a nice way to start the year,” he said. “I think I can get used to it.”

And if the weather holds up, the 38 pros playing in the first PGA Tour event of the season can probably get used to a few more 66s before this thing is over.

After Pate and Barr, there are a lot of people bunched. This is not a logjam, it is a forest.

Four players are two shots back, a group led by Paul Azinger, PGA player of the year last season, his playing partner Johnny Miller, Payne Stewert and PGA champion Larry Nelson. Six more players are three back with 69s.

Thirty-six of 38 golfers shot one over par or better. The only two who finished anything worse than one over were Lanny Wadkins with a 76 and Mike Reid with a 77.

Miller, who produced the shot of the day--an eagle 2 on No. 13--said the La Costa’s greens were particularly quick and the scores are going to show it.

“Maybe 15 under is going to win it,” Miller said.

That was long before Pate came in. If he duplicates his first round three more times, he’ll finish 24 under.

Miller was especially good on the back nine. His score of 33 there was bettered only by a spectacular 30 by Keith Clearwater, who sank birdie putts on the last three holes and had six of them after making the turn.

Miller’s eagle came an 8-iron and bounced once and flew into the cup from 140 yards out.

“I can make those kind of putts,” Miller joked.

Pate shot his way here by winning the Southwest Classic, one of six top 10 finishes he had last year on his way to earning $335,728.

Although Pate, no relation to golfer Jerry Pate, may be a fast-starter here, he was a fast-finisher in 1987 when he won almost $200,000 in his last seven events.

The only time Pate got into trouble Thursday was when his tee shot on 15 went awry and landed between a couple of trees. They were small trees, though, so Pate hit over one of them to the green and saved his par.

He could have had another birdie on 18, but missed his seven-footer.

“But what the heck?” Pate said. “I’d like to go out and make six birdies every day.”

Barr had seven birdies, but he also had a couple of bogeys after landing in bunkers on No. 3 and No. 5. The 35-year-old from British Columbia is a lot better known in Canada, where he has won 11 tournaments, than in the U.S., but he is probably best known for losing the 1985 U. S. Open to Andy North by a stroke.

“I can slide around down here without anyone taking notice,” he said. “I’m not exactly a household name, I know.”

Barr, who has won twice since joining the PGA Tour in 1978, said he had a difficult time playing with the established players at first until he quit being psyched.

“The majority of the game is all in your head,” he said.

That’s exactly where it was for Stewart. His 68 came about after he corrected a flaw in his game. Stewart had not been holding his head still while putting.

Stewart finished 12th on the money list last year, but he wasn’t satisfied, so he decided to make a few changes. He got a new caddy, a new set of clubs, lost eight pounds and even made a New Year’s resolution.

“I’m not drinking the month of January,” he said.

But what if you have a lousy month?

“On the first of February, you can bet I’m going to have a beer,” he said.

So far, January has been pretty good to the pro golfers. Sure, it’s only one-round long, but there were 144 birdies shot Thursday.

Defending champion Mac O’Grady closed out his one-under 71 by rolling in a long birdie putt. He dropped his putter to the green and looked heavenward.

Azinger kept himself in contention the first day because he drove the ball well and that was something that had made him nervous before his round.

“I’ve had the biggest, ugly slice the last three days,” he said.

Azinger corrected the problems he was having off the tee by moving the ball back in his stance, but said there was nothing wrong with his approach shots.

“I’ve never played greens that responded like that,” he said. “It was like shooting darts. If you’re swinging good, you ought to be able to stick it in there.”