GOLF LPGA AT LOS COYOTES : Lightning Halts First Round

As the red in the thermometer went down, the red of sub-par scores went up on the scoreboard of the $350,000 MBS women’s golf tournament Thursday at Los Coyotes Country Club.

Twenty-four women professionals finished under par 72 and another 12 equaled it on a balmy day that turned stormy with thunder, lightning and rain causing the first round to be suspended late in the day.

When flashes of lightning caused LPGA officials to call the round off at 5:07 p.m., 27 players were on the course, among them Kay Cockerill, the former two-time U.S. Amateur champion from UCLA, who was four under par through 15 holes.

The three provisional leaders, Deedee Lasker, Nancy Scranton and Dottie Mochrie--all early starters--finished with four-under 68s. One shot behind was a group of six that included some of the heaviest hitters in women’s golf--LPGA and U.S. Women’s Open champion Meg Mallon, Betsy King, Colleen Walker, Hollis Stacy, Martha Nause and Donna Andrews.

Amy Alcott and Pat Bradley, both needing only one more victory to reach the 30 required for entrance into the LPGA Hall of Fame, put themselves in strong positions with solid opening rounds in the 72-hole tournament. Alcott shot 71, Bradley 72.

Lasker’s card read 31-37--68, but the San Diego professional started on the 10th hole and opened her round with a double bogey by hitting from one greenside bunker to another on the opposite side of the green.

“I teed off at 7:40, made double bogey and said to myself, ‘I’m awake now,’ ” Lasker said. “That gets your attention.”

Before the front nine was over, Lasker shot another double bogey, again set up by poor bunker play. She blasted out 30 feet past the hole on No. 17 and took three putts for her six on the par-four hole.

Then she came back with a 31, the lowest nine-hole score of the day. It was highlighted by an eagle on the 455-yard third hole, where she hit a baffler 215 yards to the green and sank a 45-foot putt.

“I was happy (with the round) because I kept my composure,” she said, then added, “But I need to practice my bunker shots.”

Scranton, who won the du Maurier Ltd. tournament--an LPGA major--two weeks ago in Vancouver, Canada, had four birdies on her front nine, then finished with nine consecutive pars for a bogey-less day. Scranton, who played as Nancy Brown for several years before returning to her maiden name, was the only player to finish without a bogey over the 6,365-yard course.

Mochrie had six birdies and appeared ready to finish as the solo leader until she bogeyed No. 18, her second miscue of the day.

All three of the leaders teed off before 8:30 a.m., missing the breezes that bothered later starters.

“The wind wasn’t strong, but it was a little tricky,” Mallon said. “It was tough to get the right club selection. It wasn’t as confusing as having a thunderstorm in Southern California, though. If I hadn’t known I was in California, I’d have sworn I was in Florida.”

Liselotte Neumann, the Swede who won the U.S. Women’s Open in 1988, had the day’s wildest ride. After taking the lead with five birdies in six holes--four in row on holes five through eight--she bogeyed the ninth hole for a front-nine 32. From then on it was all downhill as she slipped to 41 coming in with four bogeys and a double bogey. She finished with a one-over-par 73.

On No. 16, a 149-yard downhill hole, she missed the green 20 yards to the left, put her chip shot into a bunker, blasted long and took two putts for a five.

Tracy Kerdyk, a third-year pro from Coral Gables, Fla., was the first player to tee off, but she made the most of her early outing by holing out with her tee shot on the 16th hole. She used a seven-iron and finished at 70.

“I played the 16th on Tuesday and didn’t even hit the green,” she said. “To tell the truth, I didn’t hit the ball too well today, but it rolled about five feet into the hole. It was my third (hole in one) this year, so I must be doing something right.”

Two of the 27 non-finishers withdrew, but the 25 others will start this morning at 7:20 before playing their second rounds.