BOWLING U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN : Leader Macpherson Shifts Target to Shift Her Luck

A slight adjustment paid off in monumental results for Wendy Macpherson of Las Vegas, the new leader of the $100,000 BPAA U.S. Bowling Open.

After an open frame cost her a 200 game in the opening round Tuesday, “I decided to move my feet and lane target an inch to the right,” she said.

She went on to a high-scoring opening round, then continued her hot streak Wednesday at Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley.

Macpherson is 372 pins over a 200 average after 16 games. Her lead is 33 pins over Cheryl Daniels, who sings the blues in a Detroit night club when not on the national tour.

Carol Gianotti, Leanne Barrette, Aleta Sill, Rene Fleming, Anne Marie Duggan, Tish Johnson and Donna Adamek were among those well up in the field of 192.

Adamek was holding her own in quest of a third Open title, despite lingering aches from an accident last Friday at the Concourse Bowling Center pro tournament in Santa Maria.

She had gone to drill a new ball in a mobile pro shop. Hovering over the drill press, her hair suddenly was snagged by the drill.

“Within seconds it drew her head into the drill,” her father, Bill, said. “I wasn’t in the shop. Luckily, Sharon Todd (another bowler) was. She shut off the press almost immediately. The hospital determined Donna’s neck pain and scalp cuts not to be serious.”

The accident came on the heels of tragedy for Adamek, whose mother, Eulia, collapsed and died two weeks ago while attending a pro tournament in Las Vegas.

First-round leader Kathy Hentges, the Kansas City police officer and part-time pro, slipped down the standings in the second round. There wasn’t a 200 score in her eight games Wednesday.

“Perhaps I’ll come back today, but if I don’t, it was a thrill to have led the Open,” she said.