SENIOR CLASSIC AT MESA VERDE : Wargo Takes Advantage of Eichelberger’s Calamities : Second round: Putting touch deserts Friday’s leader, who shoots 75 at Senior Classic.

Dave Eichelberger’s putting touch deserted him Saturday at Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa, and Tom Wargo and Larry Laoretti were just waiting for it to happen.

While Eichelberger soared to a five-over-par 75 in the second round of the $800,000 Toshiba Senior Classic, Wargo shot a steady 67 for a 36-hole total of 132. Laoretti had a 68 and is one stroke behind. Eichelberger, who went into the round with a two-shot lead, is six shots behind Wargo.

In a group at 135, three shots behind the leader, are Tom Weiskopf, George Archer and Bob E. Smith.

Smith, who has not won on the Senior PGA Tour, had a 65, the best score on the second round.

Dave Stockton and Jim Dent are at 136. Lee Trevino, still having trouble with his neck, is at 138.

Wargo and Laoretti, buddies for years, will be joined by Smith in the final threesome today. For Wargo, who has been one of the top seniors for the last two years, playing with the lead going into the final day is nothing new. But Smith and Laoretti are virtual strangers to it.

Smith has never finished better than 10th in a senior event. Laoretti, whose only victory was the 1992 U.S. Senior Open, can’t remember the last time he was in the last group to tee off on the last round.

Smith has been getting putting instructions, from Stockton, the best on the tour; from Bob Cisco, author of the book “The Ultimate Game of Golf,” and from George Smith, his brother. George, a former golfer, does golf for CBS. This week he is Bob’s caddie.

Putting put Smith into the game Saturday. He had six birdies, one of them coming on a 40-foot chip shot. He sank birdie putts of 25, 20, 15, 12 and 10 feet, plus a 15-footer to save par.

“Yesterday I felt comfortable from tee to green and shot par,” he said. “I was comfortable putting today and that was the difference.”

Laoretti sank a string of long putts to start the back nine. After two bogeys on the front nine, Laoretti seemed ready to fall out of contention. But he made birdies on putts of 18, 25, 10 and 15 feet on Nos. 10-13.

Wargo, one of six seniors to win more than $1 million in 1994, did not make bogey in the first 36 holes and he didn’t make a putt longer than six feet. He didn’t miss any closer than six feet, either.

“Mostly because of all the rain, they have had some trouble with the greens,” Wargo said. “We (Wargo considers wife Irene and caddie Butch as part of his team) try not to see the bumps. But you can’t be aggressive. Under the circumstances we did rather well.”

Weiskopf has been fighting flu for two weeks. He said he felt dizzy on the third hole and had to sit for a couple of minutes, but he recovered to shoot a three-under 67.

“I was supposed to take the antibiotics with food, but I didn’t,” he said. “I hit my drive into the lake on one, but after sinking a four-foot birdie putt on four I was all right. I feel fine now.”

Weiskopf plays only 10-14 tournaments a year and figures he prepares to play about half of them.

“When I’m out here I enjoy myself, but I just can’t play full time,” he said. “My designing and golf course building business is my first love. I feel it is an art. It is a compliment to have people enjoy playing my courses.

“But there are times when I’ll win out here. Why not tomorrow?”

How Mesa Verde Is Playing

A hole-by-hole look at Mesa Verde Country Club after 2 rounds of the Toshiba Senior Classic (posting 156 scores):

DOUBLE TRIPLE NO. PAR AVERAGE EAGLE BIRDIE PAR BOGEY BOGEY BOGEY+ RANK 1 4 4.359 0 11 83 57 5 0 1 2 5 4.962 0 28 106 22 0 0 13 3 3 2.853 0 39 101 16 0 0 16 4 5 4.962 0 30 105 18 3 0 13 5 4 4.167 0 19 94 41 2 0 5 6 4 3.974 0 28 105 22 1 0 12 7 3 3.122 0 21 97 36 2 0 7 8 4 3.891 0 34 106 15 1 0 15 9 3 2.981 0 24 113 17 2 0 11 OUT 35 35.269 0 234 910 244 16 0 10 5 4.481 8 77 61 8 2 0 18 11 4 4.071 0 25 97 32 2 0 8 12 3 3.038 0 23 108 21 4 0 9 13 5 4.840 0 39 105 10 2 0 17 14 4 4.282 0 8 102 40 6 0 2 15 3 3.026 0 13 127 15 1 0 10 16 3 3.263 0 13 91 50 2 0 3 17 4 4.167 0 15 104 33 4 0 5 18 4 4.224 0 15 99 36 5 1 4 IN 35 35.391 8 228 894 245 28 1 TOT. 70 70.660 8 462 1,804 489 44 1