GOLF SAN DIEGO OPEN : Putting Gives Fehr, Eastwood Lead

In a golf tournament that usually produces low scores, and a couple of strokes can mean falling not only one place but several, the slightest edge is often worth a lot.

Putting takes on added importance in this competitive atmosphere, the shortest shot making the biggest difference.

So, it was no wonder that many of the 13 players bunched within two shots of the lead after Thursday’s opening round of the Shearson Lehman Hutton Open gave credit to their putters, starting with co-leaders Rick Fehr and Bob Eastwood.

Each shot a seven-under-par 65 on the North Course at Torrey Pines, and each credited his work on the greens. But each had found a different solution to recent putting problems.

Fehr, a six-year professional from Brigham Young, said his switch last week to a putter styled like the one he used as a teen-ager was the difference. “I started getting the putter rolling and made a lot of good putts,” he said. “If I had not putted so well, it would have been about a 68.”

For Eastwood, the difference was more in the mechanics than the mechanism. He said he has overhauled his putting completely--from stance to stroke.

“I’ve been playing well tee to green the last few years, but I have been frustrated with my putting,” said Eastwood, who slid to 139th on the earnings list last year. Eastwood sank a 50-footer for an eagle three on the 497-yard ninth hole and a 25-footer for birdie on the par-4 15th.

But Fehr and Eastwood were hardly alone. A run down the leader board found that there was a story about improved putting behind almost every low round.

For Fred Couples, whose 68 was second-best on the longer South Course, behind Jim Booros’ five-under-par 67, the difference was a changed alignment.

For Mark O’Meara, whose 66 on the North Course left him in a five-way tie for second place, one shot behind the leaders, putting was the edge he needed.

And for Doug Tewell, the difference was a departure from conventional tour wisdom. He switched to the long putter that Orville Moody has helped popularize on the Senior PGA Tour.

He shot a 66 on the North Course with his best putting round of the year.

Tewell looked at tour statistics that showed him first in driving accuracy (.839) and tied for second in greens in regulation (.744) and knew exactly where the trouble was. But setting aside his traditional 34-inch putter and trying the longer club was not easy.

Tewell said he realizes that some of his fellow tour players snicker at the unusual club length--but he finally decided that a bold move was needed.

Tewell will be in for a tougher test in the second round as the players switch courses. Twelve of the top 13 scores came on the North Course Thursday.

“You save one shot a round with a putter, and it makes a lot of difference in a tournament,” Eastwood said.

Tournament Notes

Peter Parsons, a rookie from Macon, Ga., scored a hole in one with a four-iron on the 183-yard eighth hole on the South Course. . . . Defending champion Greg Twiggs shot a one-over-par 73.