GOLF ROUNDUP : Player Makes His Day Complete With a 64

Gary Player went to the winner’s circle even before he got to the first tee.

Player made up a two-shot deficit with a three-shot swing on one hole Saturday and tied the course record with an eight-under-par 64 for a two-stroke lead after two rounds of the PGA Seniors golf tournament at Richmond, Va.

“I had a good day because a horse I own won a race back home,” said the South African, who had eight birdies in a bogey-free round over the 6,644-yard Hermitage Country Club course softened by rain that didn’t stop until more than half the field was on the course.

“It was the kind of round where there was a very good chance to break 60. I had a lot of chances. I putted very well, but not even a machine can knock them all in.”

Player’s 36-hole total of 13-under-par 131 moved him past first-round leader Rives McBee, who survived a double-bogey on the 13th hole to finish with a 67 and a 133 total.

McBee was 12 under par for the tournament, six under for his round and two shots ahead of Player until he double-bogeyed the 13th hole. Player made a birdie to take the lead and McBee bogeyed the next hole, but rallied with a birdie on 18.

Chi Chi Rodriguez, who had a 67, and the Senior Tour’s leading money winner, Lee Trevino, who shot his second 68, were next at 136.

Jim Dent also tied the course record with a 64 that moved him into a tie at 137 with Terry Dill and Frank Beard, both with 67s, and Bobby Nichols, who had a 68.

“I thought the rain helped considerably and made the greens a lot softer,” said Player, whose 32 on the front nine included two birdie putts from 15 feet, another from 12 feet and one from six feet. His four birdies on the back nine ranged from eight to 25 feet.

Nolan Henke ended an up-and-down day with a birdie on the 17th hole, extending his lead to three strokes after three rounds of the B.C. Open at Endicott, N.Y.

Henke sprayed drives all over the narrow En-Joie Golf Course fairways, missed several birdie chances and set himself back with a pair of bogeys, but still was able to increase the two-stroke lead he held after the second round. He finished with a round of one-under-par 70 and was at 13-under-par 200.

Barry Jaeckel made six birdies in a round of 65 and moved past Jim Hallet for sole possession of second place at 203.

Hallet, the first-round co-leader with Henke, shot to a 72 and dropped into a third-place tie at 204 with Jeff Hart, who shot 66, and Jim Benepe, who had a 67.

Anne Sander beat Marlene Streit by six strokes in an 18-hole playoff to win her second consecutive U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at Modesto.