Page 16-Saturday, June 16, 1979-The Michigan Daily
INVERNESS BURNS NICKLA US, WATSON:
Dark horses lead Open
TOLEDO (AP) - LAsrry Nelson slip-
ped into a share of the lead, Tom Wat-
son "shot myself right out of the golf
tournament" and light-hearted Lon
Hinkle beat "The Tree" in the second
round of the 79th United States Open
Championship yesterday.
The slender Nelson, who didn't take
up golf until the age of 22, composed a 3-
under-par 68 and tied scrambling Tom
Purtzer for the halfway lead. The jour-
neyman Purtzer, winner of one title in
four years on the PGA tour, had a
wildly-erratic 69 in the hot, windy
weather.
They shared a three-stroke lead with
36-hole totals of 139, three strokes under
par on the old Inverness Club course
whose tight fairways, deep rough and
tiny, undulating greens became a thing
of teeth-grinding, hair-pulling
frustration for many of the game's# 4
more illustrious performers.
Chief among them were golf's two
leading players, Tom Watson and Jack
Nicklaus.
"I'm disappointed, deeply disappoin-
ted, but I have no excuses," said Wat-
son after shooting a 77 that put him at
152. "I just didn't have the feel and I
didn't have the confidence. I playedk
awful."
Nicklaus, holder of a record 15 major
professional titles, also had a 77 and
was just a single shot better than Wat-
son at 151.
Nicklaus made the cut for the final
two rounds today and tomorrow, but
Watson didn't: '.,
Watseonidn't.rJUST ANOTHER DIFFICULT hole at
In second, three shots off the pace, tion. Trevino was surprised yesterda
stood Hale Irwin, the 1974 Open chain- fairway, which he was driving onto, a
pion. Irwin burned Inverness for a 68, f.atwythicoihwedrvergTomtoWa
leaving him at even-par 142 for 36 holes. left. At this point, however, Tom Wa
"I played very well," said Irwin, a missed the cut with a 77-152, his first e
former Open champion and a man with
a history of playing his best on golf's round of par 71, Player had another 7
tougher courses. "No matter where the and Bean, a runaway winner in Atlant
leaders are, I'm well pleased with my last week, fell out of a share of the lea
position.r, in this one with a struggling 76.
Bill Rogers was next at72-143. Keith Fergus and Hinkle, the othe
Two shots further back, a 145, were two men who were tied for the lead a
Tom Weiskopf, Jerry Pate, Lou ter Thursday's play, had 77s and wer
Graham and Jim Colbert. Graham, at 147.
one of four men tied with Purtzer for But Hinkle had some fun.
the lead at the end of the first 18 holes, It involved the eighth hole and th
shot a 75. Weiskopf, Pate and Colbert hastily-planted tree the sponsoring U.
had 74s. Golf Association erected to cut off hi
Heading the group at 146 were Andy avenue to a shortcut on the hold, b
Bean, South African Gary Player and playing down the roughly parallel 17
Ben Crenshaw. Crenshaw managed a fairway.
OpengolfeTs 'treed' off
by newly planted obstacle
TOLEDO (AP)-Controversy continued to swirl around the United
States Open Golf Championship yesterday as at least one player took the
shortcut through an adjoining fairway to play the eighth hole.
The governing U.S. Golf Association, embarrassed after six players took
the shortcut up the 17th fairway to play No. 8 Thursday, ordered a tree plan-
ted next to the eighth tee.
A 25-foot Black Hills spruce, 16 feet in diameter at the base, was planted
about 45 minutes before the first player teed off yesterday at the Inverness
Club
Even so, Joe Kunes defied the USGA and elected to play the shortcut
despite the tree, hitting his tee shot into the 17th rough.
However, the third-year touring pro from Tifton, Ga. took four shots to
reach the green of the 528-yard, par-5 hole via the shortcut. He settled for a
bogey six.
A USGA official said of Kunes' decision, "It's not in the spirit of the
game,"
Lon Hinkle, one of five golfers tied for the first-round lead at one-under
par 70, was one of the six players who elected to play the shortcut Thursday.
Half of the six who tried it made birdies.
The spruce, dug up from another part of this 76-year-old golf course, was
planted 30 feet in front of and to the left of the eighth tee by an Inverness
ground crew.
L/
Toledo's Inverness Golf Club, right? Wrong, if the reaction of Lee Trevino is any indica-
y to see a large spruce planted in the rough between the U.S. Open course's eighth
nd the 17th. USGA officials planted the tree overnight to deter shortcuts on the dogleg
tson (insert) could care less about that maneuver. Golfing's sensation of the late '70's
ary departure in 30 tournaments.
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SPORTS OF THE DAILY
Uleagueless
DETROIT - The University of
Detroit has decided against joining six
other basketball-oriented universities
in a new conference that will begin
playing a round-robin schedule this fall.
The university's announcement came
yesterday just as the other schools -
Loyola (Ill.), Butler, Evansville,
Oklahoma City, Oral Roberts and
Xavier (Ohio) - declared formation of
the City Athletic Conference.
IN ADDITION to the fall round-robin
schedule, the conference also will play
a post-season tourney next season.
Detroit Athletic Director Larry
Gericiotti said the Titans were not
joining the conference because it had
been determined the school "lacks.
traditional rivalries - common
ground, if you will - with too many of
the proposed institutions.
"Under those conditions," he said,
"the drawing power of the league would
probably be less than that of our
present independent status."
-UPI
Cash 'stable'
DETROIT - Former Tiger first
baseman Norm Cash is in "stable"
condition after suffering an apparent
stroke nearly two days earlier, officials
at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital said
yesterday.
ALTHOUGH CASH is resting comfor-
tably, a hospital spokesman said there
is "evidence of paralysis on his right
side."
"Stormin' Norman's Tiger spanned
fifteen years. He retired after the 1974
season with a career batting average of
.271. In 1961, he led the AL In batting
with a .361 mark, and home runs with
41.
Karzen bows out
IOWA CITY - Michigan's women's
tennis ace Kathy Karzen advanced to
the consolation finals of the AIAW
National Championships before she
bowed to Ann Layman of New Mexico.
KARZEN ROARED back into the
finals with two wins, after losing her
first-round contest to Brigham Young's
Wtendy Barolow, 6-3, 6-2.
A trio of California teams dominated
the meet. California won the title ahead
of second-place Stanford and third-
place UCLA.
AUGUSTA PRESSURE
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP)-One of the
things that makes the Masters a great
golf tournament is the toughness of the
Augusta National Course, according to
Arnold Palmer.
"When you start out on the back nince
knowing you have to play well, then you
know why Augusta is a great course,"
Palmer said. "If you make a mistake,
particularly on the final .round, the
pressure will get to you and destroy
you.