Alcott Fires Another 66 for 4-Stroke Lead : Her 13-Under-Par Total of 203 Is a Tournament Record for 54 Holes

The last time Amy Alcott won anything was when she showed her dog to a first-place in the puppy division at the Long Beach Kennel Club in January.

Her Scottish terrier is named Shortscots Flying Venus McVie, which, of course, means that going into today’s final round of the Nabisco Dinah Shore golf tournament, Alcott’s lead is just about as long as her dog’s name.

Under Saturday’s piercing sun, Alcott moved closer to her first victory in two years with her second consecutive 66 at Mission Hills and was four strokes ahead of Colleen Walker with just 18 holes left to play.

Rosie Jones, after a 68, was five shots back, and Marta Figueras-Dotti was six behind after she came in with a 70.

So what have we got here, a dogfight?

“I wouldn’t bet against me,” Alcott said.

Three rounds deep into the event, Alcott, the 1983 Dinah Shore winner, has had rounds of 71-66-66 for a 203 total of 13 under par. That’s a tournament record for 54 holes.

Alcott continued to play in what she calls her “zone.” With six more birdies Saturday, Alcott not only expanded her lead by three shots, she also moved into a new, enlarged zone. The Twilight Zone.

“When I get like this, I’m not well,” she said.

The 72-hole Dinah Shore record is also 13 under par, which means that all Alcott has to do is shoot a 71 today to set a new record. Donna Caponi, who beat Alcott in the 1980 Dinah Shore, holds the 72-hole record that was tied in 1985 by Alice Miller.

Right now, Alcott is playing as well as she ever has. The last time she felt so good was when she won the U. S. Open at Nashville in 1980.

So the question is whether Alcott can be beaten. Her closest challengers hope so, but they aren’t sure.

“Is she catchable?” Walker said, repeating a question. “I don’t know. I think everybody is catchable.”

Jones, who finished fourth at the Dinah Shore last year, positioned herself for a run at Alcott with four birdies on the back nine.

“Amy is playing great,” Jones said. “She is going to be hard to catch, but it won’t be impossible. She’s human. To me, a 5-shot lead is a 2 1/2-shot spread. She can bogey and I can birdie two holes.

“If I’m within three or four shots at the turn, I can catch her,” Jones said. “At least I feel there’s a chance.”

Alcott hasn’t proven to be very catchable in her last 36 holes. She has had consecutive nines of 33-33-33-33.

“I’m stuck on 33, I guess,” she said.

Walker, however, made the shot of the day. On the 160-yard par-3 17th, she drove a 6-iron to within one foot of the cup.

“My caddy said it would be nice to see a hole in one, so I tried to make his wish come true but I came up a foot short,” she said.

Walker went out with a 33 herself on the front nine with three birdies, including a couple of 15-foot putts. She faltered slightly on the 376-yard 13th when she 3-putted from the fringe for a bogey, her only bogey in her last 36 holes, but Walker still likes her position.

“I’ve just got to hang tough and see what happens tomorrow,” Walker said. “I’m just going to try to play the golf course. I’m not going to try to play Amy.”

At the same time, Alcott has someone else to play for besides herself. If Alcott wins, she said she is dedicating her victory to a 25-year-old friend from Minnesota who is trying to score a win over colon cancer.

The woman, Ann Paulson of Edina, Minn., had surgery in late January at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and is undergoing experimental treatment for the cancer, which is similar to the cancer that Alcott’s mother was able to beat.

Alcott first met Ann 15 years ago after she ran into her dad at Cypress Point, the day after Alcott had won the California Amateur title.

Ann Paulson was 10 at the time.

“I’m glad to hear she’s playing so well,” Paulson said from her home in Edina. “It’s sweet of her to think of me when she’s under so much pressure. I’ll be rooting for her. If I could talk to her right now, I’d say ‘Kick their tails, Amy.’ ”

Dr. Richard Paulson, a dentist, said his daughter’s cancer was only diagnosed two months ago. Ann’s type of cancer, he said, is particularly virulent.

“It has a very poor prognosis,” Paulson said.

Only two weeks ago, Paulson and Ann were in Santa Monica to attend a cancer conference and met with Alcott, who told them then she would dedicate her next victory to Ann.

“We’re real excited about that,” the elder Paulson said.

Alcott said she’s also doing rooting of her own.

“If anyone can do it, Ann can,” Alcott said.

Golf Notes

Caroline Keggi, an amateur, shot a 66 Saturday and moved into sixth place at 212, nine shots off the lead, but still a stroke ahead of Nancy Lopez and only one shot behind Jan Stephenson. The highest finish in the Dinah Shore by an amateur was a tie for 38th by Kim Williams in 1986. Keggi, a senior with no eligibility at New Mexico, will be a member of the Curtis Cup team. She was the 1987 National Collegiate Athletic Assn. individual champion and the California State Amateur champion. “It’s easy for an amateur to be overwhelmed by it all,” Keggi said. “I’m doing my best not to have my eyeballs pop out.” . . . Mickey Wright apparently did not reach the 487-yard No. 18 in two shots in the Dinah Shore tournament as Laura Davies did Friday. But two golfers did in 1980. Betty Burfeindt, with a 2-iron, and Lynn Adams, with a 4-wood, preceded Davies.