Magee’s 68 Leads by 1 at La Costa

Andrew Magee, a young golf pro who says that some of the more experienced players are intimidating, did some intimidating of his own Thursday in the opening round of the MONY Tournament of Champions at La Costa.

Magee, 26, playing in the last twosome with Corey Pavin, shot a 4-under-par 68 for a 1-stroke lead over Steve Jones and Chip Beck.

He had qualified for the tournament here with a victory in the Pensacola Open, his only win since joining the PGA Tour in 1985.

Magee, a ruddy-faced, 6-foot, 180-pound former Oklahoma All-American, was plagued by inconsistency last year. He missed 13 tournament cuts, including 5 in a row.

He was consistent Thursday, however, on a day when threatened rain failed to materialize until after the round was completed. Still, the course was damp.

Magee had 6 birdies and only 2 bogeys. He started fast with birdies on the first 2 holes, had another on the ninth and 3 more on the back side of the course.

“I’m thrilled to death to get it over with,” Magee said. “I just didn’t want to start the year out with an 80, or something. I hit a good drive on the first hole and made a birdie.

“I thought that was a good way to start 1989. Then, when I birdied the second hole, I said, ‘Heck, this is even better.’ ”

The first hole, a 412-yard par-4, provided a lift for Magee, but it was a downer for Curtis Strange, the PGA player of the year in 1988 and the leading money winner.

Strange 4 -putted from about 12 feet and finished the day with a 77, 5 over.

But there were auspicious starts for Magee, Jones and Beck, first time qualifiers for the Tournament of Champions. In fact, 5 of the first 6 after the first round were first-time qualifiers, Ben Crenshaw being the exception.

Crenshaw was bracketed with Jeff Sluman and Bob Lohr at 70. Six others were at 71--Sandy Lyle, Lanny Wadkins, Joey Sindelar, Greg Norman, Tom Sieckmann and Mark Brooks.

Mark Calcavechhia and David Frost each shot par-72. Steve Pate, the defending champion, finished with a 73.

“I got here Sunday afternoon and I didn’t know where everything was,” Magee said. “I was pretty intimidated. I didn’t know where to check in and I felt kind of goofy. Where do you go to get a facial?

“Then, I saw some other guys show up, like Greg Norman and Curtis Strange, and I thought, ‘My goodness, I’m at the wrong place.’ ”

Magee has respect for for his elders.

“Coming out of college you’re not real confident in your game and I’ve watched these guys on TV for years,” he said.

“I played with Jack Nicklaus at Doral in my rookie year. He was very nice and he calmed me down a little bit. There are some other players who are more intimidating than Jack.”

Later, he identified Wadkins and Raymond Floyd as intimidating types, but not in a derogatory way.

“They want to beat your brains out and that’s good,” he said. “You learn the killer instinct from those guys.”

Magee has a reputation for playing well on tough courses and the 7,022-yard layout at La Costa certainly qualifies, especially since the ground was still wet from Wednesday’s rain.

Magee is long off the tee and he said he was driving well Thursday. He conceded that he got a lucky birdie on the par-4, 423-yard 16th hole.

“I was in the rough, but I had a little opening to the green,” he said. “I hit a 7-iron from 167 yards that caught the bank of a bunker and the ball ricocheted 10 feet from the hole. Then, I made the putt for a birdie.”

Magee, an easygoing sort, said that when he joined the tour, he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to carry himself on the course.

“Was I going to be a Fuzzy Zoeller sort of guy, joking with the crowd, or a real serious type of person? Everyone has their different ways of playing. You just have to be yourself.”

Magee, who earned $261,953 last year and placed 43rd on the money list, said his game improved in 1988 with the help of Bob Rotella, a sports psychologist from the University of Virginia.

He said that Rotella helped him to establish a routine when he addressed the ball.

Until Magee came in with his 68, it had seemed that Jones and Beck would share the first-round lead at 69.

Jones, who qualified by beating Bob Tway in a playoff last year in the AT&T; Pebble Beach tournament, got off to a fast start.

He birdied the first hole after hitting a 9-iron 2 feet from the pin. He then birdied the par-4, 386-yard fourth hole and got another birdie on the par-5, 541-yard fifth with a 24-foot putt.