Son Talks Zarley Into Slim Lead at Senior Open

Kermit Zarley ignored the advice of his caddie, Mike--who also happens to be his only son--and began the second round of the U.S. Senior Open by missing a four-foot birdie putt.

The father and son argued briefly, and Kermit Zarley struggled for 11 holes. He finally started listening to Mike, however, and dropped four consecutive birdie putts to finish Friday’s round with a one-stroke lead.

“We just yelled at each other a little,” Mike Zarley said after his dad shot a second consecutive 69 to stand at two-under-par 138 on the challenging North Course at Olympia Fields Country Club in Illinois. “When he does something like that, I get upset.”

His father got upset at himself, too.

“I could have kicked myself,” said Kermit Zarley, who after his early woes made a 30-foot putt on the 12th hole and followed with 15-foot birdie putts on 13 and 14 and a 12-footer on 15. “I should listen to him. I haven’t been reading greens as good as him.”

And reading greens has become crucial at Olympia Fields, where the tough pin placements, tricky greens and 6,841-yard length have kept all but six golfers over par heading into today’s third round.

“It is the toughest course we have ever had to play the U.S. Senior Open on,” Chi Chi Rodriguez said. “If you make mistakes, it’s going to get you.”

Graham Marsh shot a 67 Friday, the tournament’s best round, to join Dave Eichelberger, Tom Wargo and John Bland one stroke behind Zarley at 139. Jimmy Powell was two back at even par.

Most big-name golfers made the cut, though each will need a big weekend performance to contend. Rodriguez and Gil Morgan trailed by five strokes, Lee Trevino by six, Jack Nicklaus by seven, Hale Irwin by nine and Arnold Palmer by 13.

Defending champion Dave Stockton missed the cut at 12 over and said he was “embarrassed” to play so poorly.

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Annika Sorenstam carded threes on seven of the first eight holes and shot a six-under 65 for a one-stroke lead over Caroline Blaylock in the first round of the Shoprite Classic at Somers Point, N.J.

Blaylock, playing in the penultimate group of the day, birdied the last two holes to move into second place alone. She is a professional but not a member of the LPGA tour and got into the tournament on a sponsor’s exemption.

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Greg Norman waited out a 3 1/2-hour rain delay, then sank two putts for a six-under 65 and the clubhouse lead before rain suspended the second round of the $1.5-million St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn.

Norman’s bogey-free round put him at nine-under 133. Gene Sauers was 10 under with one hole remaining when play was suspended after the day’s third rain delay.

Golf Notes

Amateur Jason Gore of Valencia, who started the final round six shots behind, shot an eight-under 64 at Indian Wells Country Club to win the California State Open by three shots over Steve Jurgensen of Newport Beach. . . . Steve Scott, 19, of Coral Springs, Fla., runner-up to Tiger Woods in last year’s U.S. Amateur, is among the eight golfers selected for the U.S. 1997 Walker Cup team, the U.S. Golf Assn. announced. The U.S. will face an amateur team from Great Britain and Ireland in the 36th Walker Cup match Aug. 9-10 at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y. Also selected were Jerry Courville Jr., 38, Milford, Conn.; John Harris, 45, Edina, Minn.; Chris Wollmann, 22, Parma, Ohio; Duke Delcher, 41, Hilton Head Island, S.C.; Brad Elder, 22, Overland Park, Kan.; Joel Kribel, 20, Pleasanton, Calif.; and Randy Leen, 21, Dayton, Ohio. The USGA said it will add two other members and three alternates in July.