Disparate Trio Leading the Way : Bradley, Rarick, Alcott Six-Under Par at Buena Park

Pat Bradley, whose golf is calm and dispassionate, Cindy Rarick, whose golf is a family matter, and Amy Alcott, whose golf doesn’t prevent her from working as a short order cook, each found her way to the top of the leader board after the second round of the Nippon Travel-MBS golf tournament at Los Coyotes Country Club in Buena Park.

The three players are tied at six-under-par 138.

First-round co-leader Lisa Walters is one shot back at 139, along with Myra Blackwelder and tour rookie Pam Wright.

Dale Eggeling is at 140, and Beth Daniel and Marta Figueras-Dotti are at three-under 141.

Bradley, who is fit again this season after a hyperthyroid condition ruined last season, is seeking her second victory of the season. She won the Centinela tournament at Rancho Park Golf Club in Los Angeles in April.

Bradley shot two 69s to gain her share of the lead. “After the second round, the lead doesn’t mean that much. It means something when you are walking up the 18th on Sunday,” said Bradley, who has 23 victories in her LPGA career.

Bradley played a steady round, making four birdies and a bogey. Among her 29 putts were birdies from 20 feet, 7 feet, six feet and one foot.

“I’m pleased with the way I played,” Bradley said. “I would like to be hitting the ball closer to the hole. I’m two-putting a lot for par and there are birdies out there to be made.”

Alcott, who gets away from golf by working as a short order cook in a bakery in Los Angeles (“There’s more pressure getting an order right than in sinking a putt,” she says), had her game in good order Friday.

She made four birdies against one bogey. She dropped birdie putts of 20 feet, 7 feet, and two 2-footers.

“I wasn’t hitting the ball particularly well coming into this tournament, but the more I play, the more I get into the groove,” she said. Alcott injured her shoulder during a swing while she was playing in a tournament in Hawaii in March.

“When I hurt my shoulder it caused me to start not trusting my swing. I had never had an injury before that.”

Alcott got her game going again in July and won the Boston Five tournament that month. Since then she has finished 10th, 16th, 37th and 18th.

Rarick, whose husband Rick is caddying for her, and playing partner Beth Daniel stirred their gallery with golf craftsmanship at its best.

Rarick, with precise approach shots and deft putting, ran down five birdies in a stretch of six holes on the back nine. She dropped putts of 20, 14, 5, 3, and 1 foot.

Rarick had a double bogey on the par-5 9th hole after driving into a sand trap and getting caught in some trees. But two holes later she started her birdie run. Rarick also had two birdies on the front nine along with a bogey and the not-so aesthetic double bogey.

“I feel very good,” said Rarick after her round Friday. “Every time I play with Beth, we both play well. I was pleased with shooting a 68 with a double bogey.”

Daniel shot a 67 to get to three-under for the tournament after she’d opened with a 74 Thursday. Daniel had an eagle, five birdies, two bogies and a double bogey. Blackwelder, who totes her two small children with her to every tournament she plays, shot a five-under par 67, the lowest round of day, and along with Pam Wright and Walters, trails the leaders by one.

Blackwelder, whose best finish was second place in 1980, when she was rookie of the year, had her best round of the year.

She earned $93,819 last year. She travels with her 4 1/2-year-old son, Miles, and 3-year-old daughter, Mallory; her husband, Worth, is a caddy on the tour for Juli Inkster, who is not playing here this week.

“At this point in my career when I get a chance to sleep, it makes a difference,” Blackwelder said. “I had 12 hours of sleep the other night and came out yesterday feeling real good. This course demands patience. That’s my biggest problem. You can’t force anything on this course.”

Blackwelder, who has had back problems and likes playing in hot weather, has been comfortable in the 90-degree heat this week.

Blackwelder made an adjustment in her putting stroke after the 14th hole, moving the ball closer to her front foot, and the result was four consecutive birdie putts of 20, 5, 15, and 25 feet. After two birdies on the front side on the second and seventh holes, she three-putted for her only bogey of the round.

Wright scattered six birdies, four of them on the back nine, against three bogeys.

Sherri Turner, the other first-round leader, came in with 75 Friday, including a triple bogey 7. Turner is four shots off the lead at 142.

Nancy Lopez shot a 69 to join Turner at 2-under for the tournament. Today’s third round will begin with 77 players after Friday’s cut at 146, four over par.