GOLF ROUNDUP : Brooks’ 65 Upstages Gallery’s Favorites

The huge gallery that followed John Daly and Phil Mickelson Thursday was treated to a dazzling display of golf by the first-round leader of the Kemper Open . . . Mark Brooks.

Playing in a threesome with two of the top young players on the PGA Tour, Brooks shot a six-under-par 65 on the TPC at Avenel course in Potomac, Md., to take a three-stroke lead. His bogey-free round included three consecutive birdies that enabled him to pull away from the field.

Asked if he felt out of place before a crowd obviously more interested in his playing partners, Brooks said: “I’m leading the tournament. They were lucky to get paired with me, I guess.”

Mickelson, playing in his second tournament since he suffered a broken leg while skiing in March, was one of nine players at 70. Daly shot a 73.

Wayne Levi, Ed Dougherty and Bobby Watkins had 68s; Scott Hoch and Mark O’Meara were among five players at 69.

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Beth Daniel and Ellie Gibson each shot a five-under-par 67 to share the first-round lead in the $600,000 LPGA Oldsmobile tournament at Walnut Hills Country Club in East Lansing, Mich.

Lisa Kiggens, Amy Benz, Meg Mallon, Nancy Ramsbottom and Marianne Morris were one stroke behind the leaders.

Daniel rallied with three consecutive birdies and four in five holes on the back nine.

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Putting from either the left or right side, depending on the break and position on the green, Notah Begay III of Stanford shot a 10-under-par 62 to tie an NCAA record and share the lead with Georgia Tech’s Mikko Rantanen after two rounds of the NCAA Division I men’s golf championships at the Stonebridge Country Club course in McKinney, Tex.

Begay, from Albuquerque, N.M., matched the 62 by Arizona’s Robert Gamez, shot in 1989. Begay also set a tournament record, bettering the nine-under scores by Arizona State’s Phil Mickelson in 1992 and Oklahoma’s Jim Begwin in 1984.

Begay and Rantanen are tied at 134, three shots ahead of Oklahoma State’s Alan Bratton.

Stanford took over the team lead, shooting a 15-under 273, after opening with a 292 on Wednesday. Stanford stands at 565, two shots ahead of Arkansas.