GOLF ROUNDUP : Albers Putts Her Way to 68, One-Stroke Lead

Kristi Albers shot a four-under-par 68 to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the $700,000 du Maurier Classic, the final major LPGA event of the year.

Albers had birdie putts of 50, 20, 15, nine and three feet on the 6,257-yard, par-72 St. Charles Country Club course at Winnipeg, Canada. Her two-day total is 138.

Rookie Kelly Robbins, an opening-round leader, and Juli Inkster were tied for second. Two other first-round leaders, Meg Mallon and Sherri Steinhauer, were at 140.

The wind was stronger Friday and Albers, who is seeking her first LPGA victory, said that made putting even more important.

“I putted really well--putting always wins it,” Albers said. “If you’re putting well, you feel you can get away with a little more.”

Inkster, of Los Altos, Calif., only missed four greens and two-putted three of her birdies on par-five holes.

She said she was playing with confidence after losing the U.S. Open last month in a playoff with Patty Sheehan. However, she said, the wind played havoc with her club selection.

“I was a little tentative sometime out there, thinking I had too much club and then ending up coming up a little bit short.”

Of the other two first-round leaders, Michelle Mackall shot 74 to put her three back of Albers and Betsy King shot 77.

King, seeking her 28th career victory, had four bogeys and triple-bogeyed the 18th.

Jack Kiefer, never a winner on the Senior PGA tour, took the first-round lead in the Bruno’s Classic with a 63.

Kiefer, who qualified for the 78-player field with a 66 Monday, had nine birdies and nine pars at Greystone Golf Club south of Birmingham, Ala.

He was in the first group to tee off in the $700,000 tournament and he said that helped because the greens were soft from heavy rains the previous few days.

Kiefer, owner of a driving range in Andover, N.J., missed only one green and one fairway in shooting 33 on the front nine and 30 coming in.

“I was kind of giggling the last few holes,” he said. “My tempo was good on the putting green and then on the course. It was kind of fun.”

His 63 got the attention of George Archer, whose 66 put him in second place heading into today’s second round.

“I looked up and saw that and said I’d better shoot six under on the back nine,” Archer said. “I shot five under on the back nine, so I didn’t do so bad.”

Chi Chi Rodriguez, one of six at 68, said he thought Kiefer’s score “was a misprint. I didn’t think anybody was that good. God bless him.”

Kiefer, 52, didn’t play on the PGA Tour and joined the seniors in early 1991. His best finishes have been a tie for seventh and two ties for eighth, one of those coming in last month’s U.S. Senior Open.

Injuries in a traffic accident last October forced him to skip four tournaments and hampered his swing for a time. “I’m starting to get my game back in shape,” he said.