GOLF ROUNDUP : 65 Makes Them Best in Western

Non-winning veterans Ray Stewart and Loren Roberts left the best field of the year in their wake Thursday with 65s in the first round of the Western Open at Oak Brook, Ill.

Stewart, 36, and Roberts, 34, used different methods of gaining a three-stroke lead over a field that includes 89 of the year’s top 100 money-winners and all but three of the PGA Tour tournament winners this season.

Roberts holed a 162-yard shot from the fairway for an eagle-two on his first hole at Butler Country Club, chipped in to save par on his eighth, was eight under par after 11 holes and found himself thinking about a 59.

Stewart took advantage of his first-off-the-tee starting time and what he called “the fabulous, absolutely perfect greens” for a stunning putting performance. He one-putted 12 times, including a 45-footer for par on the final hole.

He has finished as high as second, but, tongue in cheek, said his “greatest accomplishment to date is that I forced Payne Stewart to put a ‘P’ in front of his last name on the leader boards.”

He is not related to the current PGA champion, a two-time winner this season who was tied with Roger Maltbie for third at 68.

Tom Watson, who scored his first professional victory in this tournament in 1974, was another stroke behind.

Laurie Rinker, who last won on the LPGA Tour four years ago, shot a four-under-par 67 for a one-stroke lead over four golfers after the first round of the $650,000 McDonald’s Championship at Wilmington, Del.

Tied for second were Cathy Marino, Deb Richard, Jane Geddes and Barb Mucha, and they were one stroke in front of a group of seven that included Cathy Gerring, who won the Lady Keystone last week in Hershey, Pa.

Florida continued its domination of the NCAA golf championships, taking aim at individual and team titles behind the solid play of Jeff Barlow and Dudley Hart at Tarpon Springs, Fla.

The Gators, chasing their first national crown in 17 years and third overall, were five under par as a team to increase their lead to three strokes over Arizona. Barlow shot 71 to take the individual lead at 139 and Hart’s 70 put him at 141.