GOLF ROUNDUP : Rookie Tied With Inkster After a 66

Kate Golden, a rookie who has missed the cut in 10 of 18 LPGA tournaments, shot a five-under-par 66 Thursday to tie Juli Inkster for the first-round lead in the Big Apple Classic at New Rochelle, N.Y.

Golden, 25, had seven birdies and two bogeys over the 6,109-yard, par-71 Wykagyl Country Club course as the first player off the tee in the morning. She remained on top of the leader board until Inkster, winner of 14 tour events, finished five hours later.

Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez, looking for her first victory in 18 months, was tied for second at 67 with Tracy Kerdyk, who hasn’t won a tournament in four years on the tour.

Dan Halldorson, winless on the PGA Tour since 1980, shot a course-record, nine-under-par 63 to take a two-stroke lead after the opening round of the $700,000 Chattanooga Classic.

“These greens are perfect to putt on,” said Halldorson, currently 145th on the PGA money list. “We knew that we could score today.”

John Huston and Mitch Adcock shared second at 65.

Warren Schutte, the only player besides Phil Mickelson to win the NCAA individual title in the last four years, reached the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Brooklyn Park, Minn.

Schutte, a native of South Africa who won the title in 1991 as a sophomore at Nevada Las Vegas, defeated Chris Riley of San Diego, 4 and 3, in the third round and then came back with a 4 and 2 victory over Jay Fox of Conway, Ark., in the quarterfinals.

Schutte’s opponent in one of today’s semifinals over the 6,730-yard, par-72 Edinburgh USA course will be Paul Garner, a graduate student at the University of Alabama.

The other semifinal has Jack O’Keefe of Little Rock, Ark., against Richard Mayo Jr. of El Paso.

O’Keefe defeated Andrew Johnson of Columbus, Ind., 3 and 2, in the third round and then defeated Steve Woods of Ontario in 19 holes.