GOLF: KAPALUA INTERNATIONAL : Hammond Takes First-Round Lead

Donnie Hammond, who has won $294,400 in his last three golf tournaments, shot an eight-under par 64 Wednesday for the first-round lead in the $650,000 Kapalua International.

Steve Pate was alone in second place at 67, followed by Nick Price at 68 on the 6,761-yard Bay Course on Maui, where 48 professionals are vying for the $150,000 first prize.

Hammond had eight birdies in his bogey-free round. Two of his birdies came after he landed in sand traps, one came on a 50-foot putt and another on a 25-foot chip.

“I played pretty solid,” he understated. “It’s nice to start out a tournament with a good round. It’s nice to be in the driver’s seat a little bit. I feel comfortable being in control.”

Light showers fell in the afternoon, but tradewinds were tame.

In his three starts before this event, Hammond won the Texas Open, placed second in the Disney tournament and fifth in the Nabisco Championship.

He won the Texas Open by seven shots with a score of 258, the second-lowest ever on the PGA Tour, topped only by Mike Souchak’s 257 in 1955. In the Disney, a bogey on the final hole kept him from a playoff. His official earnings for the year are $458,741, good for 20th on the money list in his best season.

“I turned a bad year into a real good year in just three weeks,” said Hammond. “I’ve been working hard and I’m starting to get the breaks.”

Hammond, 32, joined the Tour in 1983 and has two career victories, the first being the Bob Hope Classic in 1986.

Pate, 28, birdied four of the last 10 holes en route to his 67. The former UCLA star credited his short game for his success.

“Chipping and putting, that’s what it takes out here,” he said.

Pate knocked in birdie putts of one, five and four feet to offset a lone bogey over the first nine holes, and added birdie puts of one, 10 and 12 feet on the back nine. “The greens are the best I’ve seen them,” Pate said. “The grain is still there, but not like it usually is. There are some putts that look pretty flat, but you can hit it 15 feet past. You get to learn where those fast putts are.”

Pate, who joined the Tour in 1985, played the same course last December in the Kirin Cup and shot 64.

His best finish this year was a tie for third at the Honda tournament.

Price bogeyed his last hole from six feet to fall out of a tie for second place, but wasn’t unhappy with his play.

“I’m very happy,” he said. “I just wanted to get it anywhere near 70. There are a lot of hot players here this week.”