Golf Roundup : A 68 Gives King 7-Stroke Lead Over Lopez in Jamaica

Betsy King shot a 3-under-par 68 Saturday and moved into a 7-stroke lead after 2 rounds of a $500,000 Ladies Professional Golf Assn. tournament at Sandy Bay, Jamaica.

King, who shot a 64 in the opening round, has a 2-day total of 10-under-par 132. Second-place Nancy Lopez, who had an opening-round 69, shot a 70 for a 139 total.

“I’m really playing well,” Lopez said. “I feel good about the final round. Most of the tournaments that I have won I came from behind, so I have been in this position many times before.”

Hollis Stacy held third place with a second-round 71 and a 140 total.

The 54-hole tournament on the par-71, 6,292-yard Tryall Golf and Beach Club concludes today with the winner taking home $75,000.

There was a four-way tie for fourth place at 141 among Danielle Ammaccapane, Nancy Brown, Robin Walton and Lori Garbacz.

King: “I really don’t feel like I have hit the ball that well this week. But I have read the greens real well which is the key here because they can be very tough.”

Lopez birdied the first hole from 8 feet but 3-putted on the second from 30 feet. She also needed 3 putts on the 12th and 14th holes, resulting in bogeys.

“I have 3-putted 6 times in the 2 rounds,” Lopez said. “I have a tendency to putt too aggressively in the early part of the season and that leaves me four and five footers coming back. Those are just the kind of putts you don’t want. With the wind blowing, it is hard to keep your body still over the ball.”

Curtis Strange, U.S. Open champion and the first man to win $1 million on the PGA Tour, shot a 1-under-par 71 for a 2-stroke lead in the third round of the $525,000 Palm Meadows Cup tournament at Gold Coast, Australia.

Strange’s 54-hole total was 207. Raymond Floyd and Australian Terry Price each shot a 70 and were tied for second at 209.

Japan’s Isao Aoki and Australia’s Peter Fowler were next at 210.

Greg Norman of Australia shot a 73 and was far back at 216.