Golf Roundup : Hammond Beats Darkness to Lead

Donnie Hammond, battling darkness and a couple of erratic Ryder Cup stars, shot a five-under-par 65 Saturday and took a two-stroke lead in the rain-delayed third round of the $600,000 Texas Open golf tournament at San Antonio.

Hammond, who last won in the 1986 Bob Hope Classic, parred the final hole for a 54-hole total of 16-under-par 194 on the short Oak Hills Country Club course.

Hammond and Ryder Cup competitor Paul Azinger, playing in the final twosome, defied all odds by completing the round, which was delayed nearly three hours by an early-morning downpour.

Hammond fashioned a two-shot advantage over Azinger, veteran Bob Lohr and former UCLA star Duffy Waldorf. Azinger matched par-70 while Waldorf and Lohr carded 66s.

Azinger, a winner at Hartford this year, started the third round with a three-shot lead, squandered it with a 38 going out, then bounced back with an eagle-3 at the par-5 10th hole and a birdie at the 11th before finishing with seven straight pars.

Lanny Wadkins, Azinger’s Ryder Cup teammate, was equally as erratic, slipping in and out of the lead several times before a double bogey at the 15th dropped him to 13-under and torpedoed his round.

A bogey at the 18th added insult to Wadkins’ injury and a 68 left him tied with Tom Sieckmann at 198. Sieckmann had a 67.

Rives McBee capped a wild finish with a chip-in birdie to take a one-stroke lead over Gary Player after two rounds of the $1.5-million RJR Championship for seniors at Clemmons, N.C.

McBee, a rookie on the Seniors PGA Tour, managed a three-under-par 67 despite a double bogey on the 17th hole and completed two trips over the revamped Tanglewood Park course in 135.

“I didn’t deserve the double bogey on he 17th, but I didn’t deserve the birdie on the 18th either,” McBee said. “I’m tickled to death to be where I am.”

Player, a two-stroke leader when the day’s play started, shot a 71 including bogeys on the final two holes.

Doug Dalziel, who had a 69, was the only other man in the field able to break par for two trips over the 18 new putting surfaces that frustrated and infuriated the 72-man field.

Dalziel was at 139, one under.

Dave Hill, who finished second and third in the last two years when this tournament was known as the Vantage Championship, matched par for the second day in a row and was at 140.

PGA champion Payne Stewart was on course to become the fourth American winner on the European golf circuit this season, moving ahead after three rounds of the West German Masters tournament at Stuttgart, West Germany.

He shot 70 for a 10-under-par total of 206, two strokes ahead of defending champion Jose-Maria Olazabal of Spain, who shot a 69, and tournament co-promoter Bernhard Langer, who had a 70.

Second-round leader Nick Faldo of Britain shot 40 on the front nine and finished with a 74 and a share of fourth place at 209 with Australian Rodger Davis, 72.