GOLF ROUNDUP : Rodriguez Shoots 66, Leads Dent by One

With Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus at the PGA Championship in Birmingham, Ala., this week, Chi Chi Rodriguez took command after one round of the Sunwest Bank Senior tournament in Albuquerque, N.M.

Rodriguez shot a near-flawless six-under-par 66 over the 6,722-yard Four Hills Country Club course.

“It just shows that when the big cats are out of town, the little mouse from Puerto Rico can play around,” Rodriguez said after a round that included five birdies and an eagle.

Rodriguez, whose only bogey came at the par-five 11th, where he double-hit a pitch shot from behind the green, holds a one-stroke lead over Jim Dent entering today’s second round of the 54-hole tournament.

Dent, the second leading money winner on the Senior Tour behind six-time winner Trevino, had a share of the lead until he bogeyed the slick 189-yard par-three 17th hole.

Gay Brewer, who has not won a tournament since 1984, was at 69 along with Billy Casper and Joe Jimenez.

Rodriguez, a two-time winner this season, sank birdie putts ranging from one inch to 35 feet and hit a 35-foot eagle putt after reaching the fringe of the 505-yard par-five 15th in two.

He followed the eagle with a birdie at 16, where he hit a sand wedge to within eight feet and made the putt.

“You can’t get greedy on this course,” Rodriguez said. “You have to hit the right places on the greens and stay below the hole. If you do that, the course plays easy.”

Rodriguez’s only mistake came at the 11th, a relatively easy, 491-yard, downhill par-five.

He drove his second shot through the green and just over the back edge. He double-hit the pitch, took the penalty stroke and then missed the par putt.

“I hadn’t double-hit a ball in maybe 15 years, and I’ve done it here twice in the last three years,” Rodriguez said.

In the 1987 tournament, Rodriguez double-hit the ball on the 10th hole while in the lead and wound up with a quadruple-bogey eight.

Jimenez was within a shot of the lead late in his round but bogeyed 14 and 16.

Crampton, with an eagle on the par-four fifth hole, was four under with three holes to go but bogeyed the par-four 16th and 18th holes.

Charlie Sifford had a hole in one with a seven-iron shot on the 167-yard 13th.

Laura Hurlbut finished ahead of the rain and the field, taking a two-stroke lead after a 68 at the LPGA Stratton Mountain tournament in Vermont.

Her closest challenger is Cindy Figg-Currier, was was at eight under after 12 holes but bogeyed four the last six holes to finish the round with a 72. Figg-Currier shared the first-round lead with Nancy Harvey at 68.

Patty Sheehan, the tour’s top money winner, had a 75 for 148, 10 strokes back.

Hurlbut, 31, is looking for her first victory in eight years.

“This year has been frustrating because I’ve made a lot of cuts, but I’ve had trouble on the weekends,” Hurlbut said after sinking a 10-foot eagle putt on the final hole for a 138, six under par.

Heavy rain in Summit, N.J., wiped out semifinal play in the 90th U.S. Women’s Amateur. The semifinals will be played today, with the 36-hole championship now scheduled for Sunday.