Golf Roundup : Newcomer McCallister Is Series Leader at 67

Blaine McCallister, one of 17 players making a first appearance in the $900,000 World Series of Golf, shot a 3-under-par 67 to take a one-shot lead over Ian Baker-Finch of Australia and Mark Brooks in the windy first round Thursday at Akron, Ohio.

McCallister had a 34-33 on the difficult 7,136-yard Firestone Country Club south course.

Baker-Finch and Brooks each had a 34-34 for their 68s. Grouped at 69 were Masters champion Sandy Lyle of Scotland, Ken Brown of Britain and Jay Haas. Lyle opened with three bogeys but made four straight birdies midway through his round.

A total of 42 entrants are competing for the $162,000 first prize and a 10-year PGA Tour exemption.

“This is my first year here. What a golf course!” said McCallister, who qualified by winning the Hardee’s tournament played the same week as the British Open. “A 67 at Firestone is like stealing. Par is golden out here. I’m off to a good start and there’s three more rounds. Who knows?”

At par 70 were Larry Nelson, Tom Sieckmann, Mark McCumber, Mike Reid, Bruce Lietzke and David Feherty of Northern Ireland. Defending champion and U.S. Open winner Curtis Strange and current leading money winner Joey Sindelar were among nine players at 71.

Greg Norman of Australia shot a 72 while former World Series winners Tom Watson and Craig Stadler had 74 and 76, respectively.

McCallister, of Ft. Stockton, Tex., birdied the first two holes but bogeyed the ninth to make the turn in 1-over-par. He birdied the 10th hole with a 12-foot chip and the 625-yard 16th by rolling in a downhill 15-foot putt.

“I was in a great frame of mind the whole round,” said McCallister, who has won $184,327 in 26 tournaments this year. “The wind made it more difficult, but I’m making these pars and going on to the next tee with a smile on my face.”

Nancy Lopez made an eagle and three birdies in a four-hole stretch to gain a share of the lead with defending champion Ayako Okamoto of Japan at 5-under-par 67 in the opening round of the $265,000 LPGA World Championship at Buford, Ga.

Okamoto played a bogey-free round with four of her birdies coming on the front nine.

Eleven players in the field of 16 bettered par on the hilly 6,107-yard Stouffer PineIsle Resort golf course in chase of the LPGA’s richest first prize, $81,500.

“Finally they started to fall,” Lopez said of her late run starting on the 14th.

All three birdies in the streak were from 10 feet and her eagle-3 on the 405-yard 16th came on a chip-in from 25 feet.

Lopez had only one bad hole--a double-bogey 7 on No. 9 when she hit a fat wedge over the green into a bunker, chipped back and three-putted from 30 feet.

Lopez and Okamoto had a one-shot lead over Amy Alcott, who offset a pair of bogeys with six birdies, including a 25-footer on the par-4 11th. Jan Stephenson was alone in fourth place with a 69.

Three others were deadlocked at 70 -- Rosie Jones, U.S. Open champion Liselotte Neumann of Sweden and Patty Sheehan.

Sherri Turner, the leading money winner this year, had a 71 and was tied with Betsy King, Colleen Walker and Judy Dickinson.

Bill Britton and Roy Biancalana both shot 7-under-par 63s to take a 1-stroke lead over Kenny Perry and Brian Mogg in the first round of $450,000 Provident tournament at Chattanooga, Tenn.

Payne Stewart, Brad Greer, Jack Renner and Billy Pierot were two shots off the lead after 65s over the 6,641-yard, par-70 Valleybrook Golf and Country Club course.