GOLF SHARK SHOOTOUT : Wadkins-Purtzer Team Leads by 3

Lanny Wadkins lists fishing and hunting as his favorite sports. Little wonder he would excel in an event called the Shark Shootout.

Wadkins teamed with Tom Purtzer on Friday to shoot 11-under-par 61 in a best-ball format for a three-stroke lead in the opening round of Greg Norman’s golf tournament at the Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks.

Fifth on the career money list with more than $5.2 million in tournament earnings, Wadkins has won 20 PGA events since turning pro in 1971. This year he won the Hawaiian Open and finished eighth on the money list.

He gave a display of his talent early over the tough Sherwood course, on a day in which the contestants were plagued by swirling, gusting winds. He lipped out a sand wedge shot from 30 yards on the second hole and then sank a one-foot birdie putt. On No. 7 he hit a four-iron to within three feet of the pin and made that birdie, too.

But that was just a warm-up.

On the 522-yard 11th hole, Wadkins hit a driver off the tee and again on the fairway, launching a second shot that stopped 25 feet from the flag. He then chipped in for an eagle.

On the 13th hole he pitched from 30 yards and nearly holed that shot, settling for a six-inch birdie putt. And on the 15th hole he made a 25-foot birdie putt.

Purtzer, who won twice on the tour this year and finished third on the money list, didn’t exactly shackle the team. He made five birdies, including a four on the 16th hole when his second shot thumped off a marshal’s foot and ricocheted onto the green, leaving him with a two-putt birdie and the marshal with a temporary limp.

Purtzer, although contributing heavily to the first-round effort, said Wadkins will make or break the team in the tournament.

“I’m really looking forward to playing with Lanny this week,” Purtzer said. “He is one of the best that’s ever been. I’m just dragging on his coattails.”

Three shots behind were Mark O’Meara and Steve Elkington. Steve Pate and Hale Irwin teamed for a 65 and were tied with Tom Kite and Davis Love III, four strokes behind the leaders.

“It’s so important for me to have a player like Steve with me,” Irwin said. “He’s a guy who can let it rip and never be counted out of a hole until he hits it in the bushes.”

Pate also enjoys the pairing.

“It’s great for me to play with someone who won’t finish a hole with one swing of the club, like I can,” he said.

Norman, who started the tournament three years ago to benefit Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities, was paired with Jack Nicklaus, who designed the Sherwood course, and the two combined for a 68. They were tied with the teams of Arnold Palmer and Peter Jacobsen and Fred Couples and Floyd.

The three-day event, which offers a $1-million purse and $250,000 to the winning team, will continue today with an alternate-shot format. The tournament will conclude Sunday with a scramble.

Shark Shootout Notes

Daily tickets are not being sold for the tournament. Charter membership tickets, covering the entire event, were offered to the first 5,000 spectators at $200 apiece, $110 of that being a charitable donation.