GOLF ROUNDUP : Calcavecchia Shares Lead at Colonial

A return of his putting touch propelled Mark Calcavecchia into a three-way tie for the first-round lead at the Colonial tournament Thursday at Ft. Worth, Tex.

Calcavecchia did not have a five on his card and did not make a bogey in a five-under 65 round. He shared the top spot with Peter Persons and Fred Funk.

Of his improved putting, Calcavecchia said, “Last week I flinched, absolutely flinched, on five putts of six feet or less.”

Of Thursday’s round, he said: “That’s probably the best I’ve felt on the golf course this year. It sort of reminded me of a couple of years ago, when I was playing great. It wasn’t much of a struggle. I was just swinging the club and doing it.

“I know that’s the way you’re supposed to play golf, but it’s hard to do when you’re playing bad and struggling and always working on something.”

Calcavecchia’s last victory came in the 1989 British Open.

Martha Foyer, winless in five years on the LPGA Tour, jumped into the lead at the Corning Classic in Corning, N.Y., with a six-under 66, the best round of her career.

Foyer, 27, had seven birdies and only one bogey in the first round on the 6,070-yard, par-72 Corning Country Club course.

In second at 68 were Deb Richard, Tammie Green, Amy Read and Laurie Rinker, the 1986 Corning winner. Veteran Betsy King was among four players at 69.