GOLF / DINAH SHORE TOURNAMENT : Lopez Shoots 68, Shares First-Round Lead

In recent years, Nancy Lopez has sometimes been more wife and mother than outstanding golfer. Even so, she remains one of the real stars of the LPGA and a favorite of the fans.

Lopez, an 18-year veteran of the tour and a member of its exclusive Hall of Fame, recently made a concession to her career. For the major tournaments, she will leave her three youngsters at home and concentrate on golf.

With that in mind, she practiced iron shots Wednesday until it was too dark to see the ball. And the practice paid dividends.

Lopez, cooling off a bit after a blistering start, shot a four-under-par 68 Thursday in the first major of the year, the $700,000 Nabisco Dinah Shore at Mission Hills Country Club.

The early birdies enabled Lopez to tie Alice Miller and Lisa Walters for the first-round lead in the 72-hole event. Japan’s Ayako Okamoto and veteran Vicki Fergon, who hasn’t won in 10 years, are a shot behind at 69.

Another group, including Betsy King, Donna Andrews and Jan Stephenson, was at 70. But Amy Alcott, like King, needing one more victory to qualify for the Hall of Fame, faltered with a 74. Defending champion Helen Alfredsson did even worse, shooting a 76, and might have trouble making the cut.

The leaders had one thing in common--they all started on No. 10. Lopez, playing with last week’s winner, Laura Davies, who had a 70, was in the sixth group, but the two others played late in the day, when the greens were crusty and spiked up.

Walters, who has never won on the mainland, was six-under until her putter betrayed her on the last two holes. The Prince Rupert, Canada, golfer, who won twice in Hawaii, missed two short putts to finish bogey-bogey.

Lopez chewed up the back nine on the former Old Course, renamed the Dinah Shore. She birdied five of the first seven holes and then battled to survive despite a series of mediocre wood shots.

On a gorgeous day in the desert, which is expecting thunderstorms today and Saturday, Lopez, always considered an outstanding foul-weather player, put herself in an excellent position to win here for the first time since 1981.

She hasn’t won since July but decided that if she was going to stay on the tour, she would concentrate on the majors.

“Other players have expressed surprise to see me on the practice tee,” she said. “But before having a family, I spent long hours practicing. I’m not going to play in as many events, so I really want to play well in the majors.”

Lopez made birdie putts of eight, four, 30, eight and 18 feet on her first nine and didn’t have a par putt longer than a foot. She hit probably her best shot on the 508-yard par-five 18th. After hitting a five-wood second shot into a fairway trap, she had to lay up in front of the lake that surround the green and appeared to be facing a bogey. But her sand wedge stopped six inches short of the pin and she saved par for a 31 for nine holes on a course other pros say is much tougher than a few years ago.

“After that it was a struggle,” Lopez said. “Now, I will have to go out and work on my woods. I think I was overswinging. Last fall when I was 20 pounds heavier, I was hitting the ball a long way. Now, I’m overswinging trying to hit it as far.”

Miller, who has eight tour victories including the 1985 Dinah Shore, had an up-and-down round. Although she had six birdies, she also had two bogeys. She was hitting the ball in the fairway, but her irons kept her in trouble.