GOLF ROUNDUP : Bradley (69) Leads Open; King Five Back

Betsy King had a stumbling start in her bid for an unprecedented third consecutive U.S. Women’s Open championship Thursday and Pat Bradley took the first-round lead with a two-under-par 69 over the sun-baked greens of Colonial Country Club at Ft. Worth.

King started bogey-bogey before making eagle on the par-five, 460-yard third hole when she chipped in from 20 yards out. She bogeyed three more holes to finish five shots behind Bradley, the 1981 Open champion.

King took 33 putts and blamed the greens, calling them “too slow. They watered four greens in front of us and once watered the green with the balls sitting there.”

She also blasted the pin positions, saying “on a couple of pins you could have let all the USGA staff hit and I would give $1,000 for anyone who could get within 10 feet of the pin.”

Three others have tried and failed to win three consecutive women’s Opens: Hollis Stacy, Donna Caponi and Mickey Wright.

Bradley, 40, overcame gusting winds, hitting 17 of 18 greens. A six-iron into the bunker on the 10th hole led to her only bogey.

Bradley, who has 27 LPGA Tour victories, got a headache after playing in the 96-degree sun. “Patience was a tremendous virtue out there,” she said. “The greens were chopped up, and there weren’t a lot of putts to be made.”

Meg Mallon, who won the LPGA Championship two weeks ago, shot a one-under 70 and is tied with with Laurel Kean and Joan Pitcock.

Bruce Fleisher, the U.S. Amateur champion in 1968 who gave up the PGA Tour to become a club pro, shot a seven-under-par 64 for a one-stroke lead at the New England Classic.

Fleisher, 42, who got “an itch” to compete again and quit his job as a Florida club pro in November, went on a first-round birdie spree, with a 32-32 at the Pleasant Valley Country Club at Sutton, Mass.

Brian McCallister, Denis Watson, Ernie Gonzalez, Ted Schulz and Trevor Dodds were next at 65. Six players were tied at 66, including Wayne Grady and Ian Baker-Finch.

“I played on the tour from 1971 to 1983 but had little success and became a club pro,” Fleisher said. “I’ve probably played in six or seven tour events since then, including the PGA championship last year.

“Since leaving my club job, I’ve sort of wandered around. Then I got into this tournament on Tuesday when a withdrawal opened a spot. It’s nice to see guys I haven’t seen in years, but there are so many kids I don’t know.”

Danny Mijovic, playing on a special sponsors’ invitation, shot a 66 to take a one-shot lead over Seve Ballesteros and Mats Lanner after two rounds of the Scottish Open at Gleneagles.

Mijovic, a Canadian who was born in Yugoslavia, finished 36 holes at 130, 13 under par.