Golf Roundup : Fiori, Tewell Share Memphis Lead

Ed Fiori and Doug Tewell battled oppressive heat Thursday en route to 6-under-par 66s that gave them each a share of the first-round lead in the $750,000 St. Jude golf tournament at Memphis, Tenn.

Fiori, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour in the past decade, and Tewell, a four-time career winner, each had bogeyless rounds. They held a two-stroke margin over Tim Simpson, Peter Jacobsen and Jodie Mudd.

“It was hot and sweaty, pretty miserable,” Fiori said. “But it’s Memphis and it’s hot, so what did you expect?”

Four of Fiori’s six birdies came on putts of 15 feet or longer and another was from 12 feet.

Tewell, who turns 39 later this month, had a 64 in the final round of the Buick Open last week, when he finished in second place to raise his earnings for the year to $168,426.

“This 66 actually was a better overall round,” he said. “Sunday, I figure I missed two makeable birdie putts. Today, I missed a half dozen . . . “

At 69, there was a logjam of 11 players headed by defending champion and current U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange.

Tied with Strange were Lennie Clements, Tommy Armour III, Mike Sullivan, Fulton Allem, Clark Burroughs, Jim Dent, Dick Mast, Payne Stewart, Steve Lowrey and Robert Wrenn.

Former steelworker Walter Zembriski and 1983 champion Billy Casper posted 3-under-par 69s in the scorching heat at Medinah Country Club near Chicago to share the first-round lead in the U.S. Senior Open.

South African Harold Henning, the only other player to break par, was one stroke back.

Four more golfers--Orville Moody, Lou Graham, Peter Thomson and Doug Dalziel--managed 72s on a day when temperatures near 100 degrees made the 6,881-yard No. 3 layout even more formidable than usual.

Chi Chi Rodriguez, who won last week’s tournament in Concord, Mass., was the best-known name in a group of players at 73.

Defending champion Gary Player, who missed a 2-foot putt for a birdie at No. 15, then bogeyed two of the final three holes, was in a group at 74.

Arnold Palmer, who won the 1981 Open, electrified the gallery by going 2 under par through 12

holes, only to fall back to 75 aftertaking an 8 at No. 15, including a double-hit from the rough alongside the green.

Amy Benz, Kim Bauer and Janet Anderson each made seven birdies and finished with 19 points to win the first-day competition in the $400,000 Pat Bradley International tournament at High Point, N.C.

Under the Stableford scoring system, which is being used for the first time in an LPGA event, players earn five points for an eagle, three for a birdie and none for a par. They lose one point for a bogey and three for a double bogey or worse. Their opening-round scores will not carry over to today’s second round.

Three players finished with 15 points--Kathy Whitworth, Val Skinner and Cindy Rarick.

Other top finishers included Juli Inkster with 14 points, Laurie Rinker with 13, and Nancy Lopez and Ayako Okamoto with 12 each.

Leading money-winner Sherri Turner advanced with 7 points, and Pat Bradley moved on with 6 points after sinking an 18-foot birdie putt on her next-to-last hole.