The Michigan Daily-Friday, April 13, 1979-Page 13
FOUR PLA YERS ONE STROKE BACK
Lietzke's 67 holds Masters lead
.4
By BOB EMORY
Special to The Daily
footers for birdies on three and twelve,
another five-footer for birdie at 17, and
then a five-foot par-saving putt lipped
out at the 18th.
AUGUSTA, Ga. - In what he termed,
"an easy stroll through the park,"
Bruce Lietzke nailed four straight bir-
dies on the back nine yesterday en route
to a five under par 67 and the first-
round lead in the 43rd Masters from
Augusta National.
Lietzke holds a slim one-stroke edge
over a group of players at four under -
Leonard Thompson, Joe Inman, Ed
Sneed and 1977 Masters Champion Tom
Watson. Right back in a group with
three under 69's were Lou Graham,
Craig Stadler, Andy Bean, Billy Casper
and the ever-present Jack Nicklaus.
In his birdie drive, Lietzke drained
putts of 20, 18, 25, and 14 feet before get-
ting his only bogey of the day at the 18th
when his seven iron from the left side
went left again and chased out several
spectators. Despite those string of putts
on the 13th through 16th holes, Lietzke
was still not impressed with his putting.
"I was never in trouble off the tee all
day," he said. "I could have had a cour-
se record if I'd have putted well. I had it
in there close a number of times."
Close is right. Lietzke missed a five-
foot putt for birdie on nine, two seven-
At
the
Masters
"I was in a trance I was playing so
well," said Lietzke, who won the Tuc-
son Onen .last February after an
opening round 63. "At 17, I had a five-
foot putt that broke my trance. If I had
made that, I very well could have bir-
died the 18th."
At 18, a 420-yard par four that doglegs
sharply to the right up a steep hill, Liet-
zke elected to go with a three wood off
the tee, as many players do in hopes of
getting a truer lie on the slope. But he
hooked his drive and left himself with a
tricky approach shot that also took a
left turn and bounded away from the
green.
He chipped back up close and two-
putted for a back nine 33.
Although Augusta National is
possibly in the best shape that it has
ever been, the course played very
easily yesterday for most of the 72 con-
testants. The sun broke through the
cloudy skies around 11 o'clock, helping
to dry out the slightly damp fairways
and give the ball extra roll off the tee.
And the greens, as most players
agreed, were soft and true as velvet.
"The course played relatively easy,"
said Tom Watson, whose 68 yesterday
indicates he is picking up right where
he left off after winning the Heritage
Classic by five strokes two weeks ago.
"The fairways were excellent so if you
missed a shot, you couldn't blame
anyone but yourself."
All totaled, nine players shot rounds
of better than 70 over the yawning, tree-
lined fairways of Augusta. But no mat-
ter what the conditions are, it is not one
of the tougher courses on the pro tour.
The fairways are wide, there is vir-
tually no rough and there aren't that
many sand traps to get buried in.
For those immersed in nostalgia,
yesterday was not that eventful. Aside
from Casper's 69, there wasn't much to
yell about as far as the older players
were concerned. Arnold Palmer, Sam
Snead, and Gene Littler all shot unim-
pressive 74s. Don January had a 73,
Gay Brewer had a 75, and Bob Goalby,
the 1968 Masters champion, blew to a
79.
1
I
AP Photo
FIRST-ROUND LEADER Bruce Lietzke looks on as he cans a birdie putt yester-
day during the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. Four players
finished their round one stroke behind Lietzke: Leonard Thompson, Ed Sneed,
Joe Inman, and Tom Watson.
ROUNDS OF APPLAUSE FOR CASPER, NICKLAUS:
Veterans returning to old orm
By BOB EMORY
Specil to The Daily
AUGUSTA, Ga.-Two comebacks-
one just a-matter of time and the other
just plain heartwarming-were started
yesterday in the first round of the 1979
Masters.
Those comebacks, by Jack Nicklaus
and Billy Casper, were seen in a pair of
three under par 69's that they shot, much
to the delight of the dignified and cour-
teous galleries that strolled over the
Golfers
tee off
By JOANNE SCHNEIDER
The old, age-worn cliche says that
when the competition gets tough, the
tough get going. Well, if that's true,
there is no better time than this
weekend for the Michigan men's golf
team to "get going." They travel today
to Columbus, Ohio to begin Big Ten
tournament play in the Kepler Open.
The Wolverines main competition in
the three-day, 72-hole event should be
Ohio State, defending Kepler champion
and tournament host. Michigan captain
Frank Sims anticipates good play from
the squad, despite the fact that they are
facing Big Ten teams for the first time
this season on a northern course.
"We'll do fine down there," said
Sims. "We're going to let the other
teams come after us."
Sims' optimistic attitude arises
despite a disappointing ninth-place
finish in the GAC Intercollegiate tour-
nament three weeks ago, Michigan's
most recent competition.,
One factor working in favor of the
Blue linksters is that none of the Big
Ten teams have had extensive outdoor
practice prior to this weekend's action.
The winter-like weather has prevented
on-the-course activity for all of the nor-
thern squads.
The tournament is hjeld on Ohio
State's Scarlet Course, the most dif-
ficult of the Buckeye's two home
layouts. Sims attributed the difficulty
of the Scarlet course to the sand traps,
strategically placed on each hole.
"It's a thinking man's course," said
Sims. "You hpve to think the ball
around. The hazards are pronounced.
When you hit into one, it leaves the ball
in too tight (too close to the pin) and
then you don't have much of a shot."
The Michigan team is using the
Kepler to gear up for the Northern In-
tercollegiate tournament, to be played
next weekend on the same course. A
good showing in the Northern would
qualify the team for the NCAA tour-
nament, contested in late May in North
Carolina.
Augusta fairways.
Nicklaus has,been in a terrible slump
of late that has produced some terrible
statistics for a man who won 17 major
championships (84 in all) and over $3
million following his 1959 victory in the
U.S. Amateur.
He has broken par only once in the
See more sports, page 14 and 15
first five tournaments he's played in
this season. His best finish is a tie for
eleventh in the Hope Classic and his
earnings of $11,309 leave hiln 79th on the
winning list.
But yesterday he was the Nicklaus of
old as he rose to the occasion of Masters
pressure and put an end to any thoughts
that he might be ready to hang up the.
clubs.
You see, the press has been writing
things like, "Jack is passed his prime"
or "The king is dead; long live the
king" and not surprisingly, this has
Nicklaus somewhat on edge.
"I'm tired of reading and answering
as to why I've been playing badly," he
said on Wednesday. "You guys (the
press) have done this to me before and
I've always come back. to win tour-
naments again. I assure you, I'm not
ready to hang up the clubs yet."
That much is obvious. But still,
Nicklaus made it clear that he wasn't
upset with his 69. "I'm very satisfied
with my round today," he told a jamh-
packed crowd in the press building. "I
drove the ball well, my iron game was
good ... it puts a lot of confidence back
in my head."
And as for the 47 year old Casper,
well, all he did was step out of one those
ancient pictures that adorn the walls of
the Augusta Clubhouse and shoot a
round for the ages, a sweet 69 that left
him two strokes off the pace.
Casper, like Nicklaus, is also in a
slump. It's called old age. He's entered
seven events this year, has made the
cut in only two and won only $2,444. His
season stroke average is an
astronimical 74.10.
A huge gallery began to follow Casper
around yesterday, especially after he
birdied the first two holes. He's a big
favorite here at Augusta, partly
because he won the Masters in 1970 in a
dramatic, 18-hole playoff against Gene
Littler and also because he's always
warm and friendly to the crowd.
In the press meeting afterwards,
Casper showed he still had some of his
down-home wit left too, as these
following quips indicate:
" "I missed the cut at Greensboro
and I came down here last Friday
evening. I was out here Saturday mor-
ning and I played the back nine first. As
I went down ten, eleven, and twelve, I
thought, 'Wow, what a beautiful course
this is."
" "The weather was-perfect for me
today. With a few clouds in the sky it
makes it easier for me. My eyes can't
stand a lot of brightness."
" It's important for me to shoot a
low round anywhere, especially with
the gray hairs coming around the
edges. Yes sir, I struck a blow for the
old folks."
For Billy Casper and for Jack
Nicklaus, yesterday was a day to
remember.
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