GOLF : AT SHERWOOD CC : Strange-O’Meara Team Increases Lead to 7 Strokes

Curtis Strange played a brilliant short iron game and teammate Mark O’Meara contributed some hot putting as the pair shot a best-ball round of 10-under-par 62 Saturday to open a seven-stroke lead in the Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities Invitational at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks.

They opened the tournament Friday with a 66 in an alternate shot format. Today’s final round will be a scramble, a format few touring pros have ever played. But Strange said that with a two-day score of 16-under-par 128, he and O’Meara will have time to figure it out.

“I’ve never done it,” Strange said. “I don’t know what the hell to expect. But now we can afford to make a few mistakes.”

He and O’Meara made few mistakes Saturday, shredding the new Jack Nicklaus-designed course with a combined 10 birdies.

O’Meara carded birdies on the first two holes by making 15-foot putts, and on the back side Strange took over. He birdied the 11th hole after knocking a bunker shot to within two feet of the pin and birdied the 13th after hitting a wedge to within 10 feet. On the 166-yard, par-3 17th hole, Strange put his tee shot within five feet of the pin and made his fifth birdie of the day.

“Not knowing what to expect on Sunday, you can’t have a big enough lead going in, not with a format like a scramble,” Strange said. “Some people will definitely shoot scores in the 50s.”

Closest to Strange and O’Meara were Raymond Floyd and Chip Beck, who combined for 10 birdies and a bogey for a 63 that left them at 135.

Floyd made a 30-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole and a 25-footer on the 17th. He also reeled off birdies on the 11th, 12th and 13th holes, sinking two 15-foot putts and a 12-footer. Beck gave the team its fourth consecutive birdie when he sank a 35-foot putt on No. 14.

Another stroke back at 136 were Lanny Wadkins and Tom Weiskopf. At 137 were teams of Hale Irwin and Steve Jones and Bernhard Langer and John Mahaffey. Lee Trevino and Andy Bean were at 138.

The winning team earns $250,000. The event is expected to raise $1.5 million for charities.