Wadkins Is First and Stays There : Golf: He shoots a 67 in less than 3 1/2 hours and is tied with McCumber and Gallagher. Nicklaus, Watson trail by one.

Lanny Wadkins got off to a head start--and a fast start--Thursday in the opening round of the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National.

Playing in the first official pairing of the day, Wadkins, who traditionally plays fast, toured the course in 3 hours 25 minutes.

He shot a five-under-par 67 to share the first-round lead with Jim Gallagher, Jr., who is playing in his first Masters, and Mark McCumber.

Wadkins doesn’t like to waste time on a course and he was delighted that there was no one in front of him except for Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen, former Masters champions, who played a ceremonial nine holes.

On a mildly warm day with only a slight breeze, it was an auspicious coming-out party for veterans.

Wadkins, 41, and his co-leaders are being closely pursued by Tom Watson, also 41; Jack Nicklaus, 51, and Japan’s Jumbo Ozaki, 44, who are at 68, along with a couple of youngsters, Fred Couples, 31, and Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal, 24.

England’s Nick Faldo, who is trying to win an unprecedented third consecutive Masters, shot a 72. His playing partner, left-handed amateur Phil Mickelson, playing in his first Masters, said he was awed by the surroundings, but he didn’t yield to the pressure, shooting a 69.

“Whoever put me off first wanted me to win,” joked Wadkins, who has 20 PGA Tour victories but hasn’t played particularly well in the Masters since first playing in it as an amateur in 1970. “And if I improve a shot a day, I won’t have any problems.”

Wadkins’ 67 was his best score in a Masters opening round. Perhaps it was the 8:45 a.m. tee time that inspired him.

Wadkins, who was paired with Jodie Mudd, said: “We had the whole place to ourselves.”

After playing the front nine in less than 1 1/2 hours, Mudd approached Wadkins and suggested that they might be playing a little too fast. Wadkins concurred, because he couldn’t even see the group playing behind him.

Wadkins said he doesn’t like slow play but shrugged and said: “There’s nothing I can do about it. I just bring myself down to the pace so I won’t be standing around. How many ways can you throw grass up in the air?”

He said he got used to playing fast while growing up in Virginia.

“We’d play 27 to 36 holes in the morning, then go swimming, have lunch, and play 18 more holes,” Wadkins said.

In later rounds, Wadkins pointed out, an early tee time identifies players who are out of contention.

“Last year at the Nabisco Championships, Curtis Strange and I were first off, and we played in under two hours,” Wadkins said, “and that’s amazing for Curtis because he’s real slow.”

Gallagher had an enthusiastic gallery. It was composed of his father, a teaching pro; his brother, Jeff, who is on the Ben Hogan tour, and his sister, Jackie, who is on the LPGA tour.

Moreover, his wife, Cissye, who was on the LPGA tour until she injured her shoulder, was also there rooting for him.

Nicklaus, probably the sentimental favorite considering his age and six previous Masters titles, had two bogeys and six birdies. One birdie came on the par-three fourth hole when he pitched in from 80 feet.

“Today I was about as composed in a round of golf at this course (as I’ve been) in a long time,” Nicklaus said. “I never got flustered. I love playing when I can have my full composure. I can’t (remember) playing when I didn’t get flustered at any one time.”

Nicklaus was in contention, but his friend, Australia’s Greg Norman, shot a 78.

“Did he really?” Nicklaus questioned. “I told my wife last night that I have a feeling if I don’t win, I think Greg will. I’m surprised he had a bad round.”

Nicklaus, who won his sixth Masters in 1986 at 46, is striving for one last hurrah.

So, perhaps, is Watson, a two-time winner here who once dominated the game along with Nicklaus. However, he hasn’t won on the tour since 1987.

Watson’s putting stroke has betrayed him in recent years, but he said he regained his touch Thursday with a new putter.

Asked what it would mean to him to win his first major championship since the British Open in 1983, Watson hesitated and said:

“Let me tell you if I win . . . I don’t want to even think about that. I just want to keep the train on the track and see if I can put four rounds together, then I can tell you.”

Golf Notes

Fred Couples, who squandered an opportunity to win the PGA Championship last August, was asked if he is seeking redemption here. “My game isn’t good enough to say I messed up the PGA and now I’ll win the Masters,” he said. . . . Couples was paired with Greg Norman. “He got off to a good start, then everything that happened was bad,” Couples said. “When things don’t go well, it’s not much fun” . . . Norman recently told USA Today: “I’ve got zero desire to play the game right now.”

Nick Faldo and Phil Mickelson, playing together, each eagled the the par-five, 465-yard 13th hole. Mickelson’s three-iron shot landed six feet from the cup after Faldo had hit about 10 feet from the hole. . . . Tom Watson’s five-iron second shot on the 18th hole hit a spectator in the ankle and then bounced into a clearing, where he got up and down for his par. “I gave the lady my ball and a big kiss,” Watson said.

Thirty players broke par. . . . Mark McCumber, 39, said his wife, Paddy, gave birth to a son, Mark Tyler, last Thursday. “I’m an anxious, excitable person, but at Augusta National you have to be emotionally prepared,” he said. “You have to maintain your composure.”

SCORES LEADERS Lanny Wadkins: 67 Jim Gallagher Jr.: 67 Mark McCumber: 67 Fred Couples: 68 Tom Watson: 68 Jack Nicklaus: 68 Jumbo Ozaki: 68 Jose Maria Olazabal: 68 Wayne Levi: 69 Mark Brooks: 69 Phil Mickelson*: 69 Scott Simpson: 69 *--Amateur OTHERS Ben Crenshaw: 70 Hale Irwin: 70 Fuzzy Zoeller: 70 Lee Trevino: 71 Curtis Strange: 72 Nick Faldo: 72 Seve Ballesteros: 75 Sandy Lyle: 77 Greg Norman: 78 Arnold Palmer: 78