GOLF ROUNDUP : King Is Queen for a Day With 66, 1-Shot Lead

It wasn’t quite as scorching as the 63 that left the field in her wake a year ago. Still, Betsy King’s 66 Friday was good enough for the second-round lead at the LPGA Big Apple Classic at New Rochelle, N.Y.

King continued her mastery of the Wykagyl Country Club course with seven birdies and one bogey. Combined with her opening two-over-par 73, King held a one-stroke lead over Heather Drew and Cindy Figg-Currier.

“The course probably is my favorite on the tour, and it suits my game best,” said King, coming off a rough week at the U.S. Open, where she was the two-time defending champion. She did not play well in the Open and made headlines by criticizing the U.S. Golf Assn. for how it runs the national championship.

King didn’t take much time to mount a charge in the near-100 degree heat. Starting on the back nine, she birdied 11 and 12, both from 15 feet. She reached a greenside bunker in two shots at the par-five 15th and got down in two for another birdie before her lone bogey on 17.

A string of five pars followed, then King birdied No. 5 from 15 feet and the No. 6 from 30 feet. She finished her round with a 15-footer for birdie on No. 9.

“I never worry about golf,” she said of having trailed first-round leader Colleen Walker by six shots. “I was two-over-(par) and six (shots) back, but there were not too many in front of me.

“Now, I’m sitting at three-under. If I can shoot three-under or four-under over the weekend, I’ll be in pretty good shape.”

Al Geiberger made a 20-foot birdie putt from the apron on the 18th hole to take the first-round lead in the $500,000 Ameritech Senior Open at Aurora, Ill.

Geiberger’s bogey-free seven-under-par 65 over the course at the Stonebridge Country Club gave him a one-shot advantage over Bruce Crampton. George Archer, Mike Hill and Orville Moody were two shots back with 67s.

Geiberger has been hot. It marked the eighth time in his last 10 rounds that he has broken 70, including his last four.

He said he stopped playing earlier this year and started working on all phases of his game. He also said having his son John, 23, caddie for him has helped.

“I taught him everything I know and he feeds back to me,” said Geiberger. “He knows everything about my game and what I’m working on.”

Lennie Clements followed up a strong opening round with a 62 to take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the $700,000 Chattanooga Classic.

Clements had opened the tournament with a 65 at Valleybrook Golf and Country Club, four strokes behind first-round leader Marco Dawson, and is 13 under par on the par-70, 6,641-yard course.

Defending champion Michael Combs scored easy quarterfinal and semifinal victories to advance to the final of the 1991 U.S. Amateur Public Links championship at Otter Creek Golf Course at Columbus, Ind.

His opponent in today’s 36-hole match-play championship will be David Berganio of Sylmar.