Page Twelve
THE SUMMER DAILY
Friday, June 15, 1973
Iayifer ea s I P en
PhtolyiheA
b z, isb hees oe
OAKMONT, Pa. (R -
Doughty little Gary Player,
underweight and still on the
mend from r e c e n t major
surgery, was four-under-par
67 and took a three-stroke
lead yesterday a f t e r the
first r o u n d of the United
States Open G o 1 f Cham-
pionship.
Player, one of only four men
ever to win all the world's major
championships, used a deft, deli-
cate putting touchto solve the
riddles of the glass-slick, con-
toured greens that had many of
the game's greatest talking to
themselves.
"I played scared all day," said
brash - and - breezy Lee Trevino,
whose 70 put him in a tie for sec-
ond with Jim Colbert and Ray
Floyd.
"The fastest greens I've ever
played," said Floyd, the 1969
PGA champion who has been a
regular on the pro tour for more
than a decade.
"The toughest set of greens
I've seen-and two days from
Sports
of the
Daily
See Page 11I
uter Daily
Sports
would be impossible for me to
putt any better."
But he refused to be elated
over his big lead.
"Not in a U.S. Open," he said.
"I remember one Open in which
Arnold Palmer had a seven-
stroke lead with nine holes to
play and lost.
"In the U.S. Open, if you're
seven strokes in front, let alone
three, they can catch you."
Player, the current American
.PGA champion, had to have an
operation early this year to re-
lieve blockage in a tube leading
to his bladder.
He had to delay the planned
start of his American tour in
Florida. He next pointed for the
Masters, but had to miss that
.J :.5
one for the first time in 17 years.
Then he planned to try it at
Houston. But an infection de-
veloped and that one went by the
boards.
Finally, he joined the tour in
Atlanta and finished 18th. He
missed the cut the next week in
Charlotte, N.C., his only other
American appearance this year.
His weight is off some 14
pounds from his usual 160. He
privately admits to being shorter
off the tee. /
For publication, however, he
has a cheery "Fit as a fiddle,
Laddie, fit as a fiddle" reply to
inquiries about his health.
"I'm fine now. No after effects.
My weight is coming back."
now they'll be twice as fast,"
said Colbert, the stocky little man
who won the Monsanto Open ear-
lier this year.
Jack Nicklaus, the defending
champion and a solid favorite to
win this title for the fourth time,
drove the green on the par four
17th hole and made an eagle two
to salvage a 71, par on the 6,921
yards of the Oakmont Country
Club course.
Player's player]
Gary Player .
Jim Colbert
Lee Trevino
Ray Floyd
Arnold Palmer
Johnny Miler 363-t
Ralph Johnslon
Bob Charles
Jack Nicklaus
Gene Littler
George Bayer
Denny Lyons
Lee Elder
Bob Goalby
John Gentile
Al Geiberger
Bert Yancey
Chris Blocker
Hale Irwin
David Graham
Julius Horos
Rocky Thompson
John Schlee
Grier Jones
Larry Ziegler
Tom thaw 3-57
ash Erickson
Deane Beman
Tom Weiskopf
Act Wall 3-73
32-36--67
37-33-70
.34-36-70
35-35--70
36-35-71
36-35-71
34-37-71
37-34-71
37-34--71
34-37-71
36-36-72
37-35-72
34-38-72
35-37-72
37-35-72
35-38-73
36-37-73
38-35-73
36-37---73
37-36-73
37-36-73
36-37-73
39=34-73
35-38-73
33-40-73
38-35-73
37-36-73
35-38-73
36-37-73
3647-73
The speed of the greens, and
the knee-deep, wiry rough of this
70-year-old course sent many
scores spiraling.
Australian B r u c e Crampton,
winner of three tournaments and
second only to Nicklaus on the
money-winning list this year, shot
a 75.
So did Tony Jacklin of England.
Amateur sensation Ben Cren-
shaw of Texas had an 80. He was
one of about two dozen at that
figure or higher.
Tom Weiskopf, winner of three
of his last four starts and the
hottest player on the tour, cooled
off to a 73-his first round over
par in more than a month.
Veteran Charles Sifford took
six putts, and a score of eight, on
the seventh hole. He finished with
an 83.
Masters champion Tommy
Aaron had a 78.
Nicklaus, generally regarded as
the world's premier player, was
tied-four strokes back of Player
-with gallant Gene Littler, New
Zealand left-hander Bob Charles
and longshot Ralph Johnston.
Player, who has spent most of
the year at his ranch home out-
side of Johannesburg recuperat-
ing from his surgery, credited
his strong round to his putting.
"I putted as well as I could,"
he said. "It was" fantastic. It
- Major League Standings
AMERICAN LEAGUE NATIONAL LEAGUE
East East
W L Pct. GB w L Pet. GB
New.York 31 27 .534 - Chicago 36 24 .600 -
Detroit 30 27 .526 ! Montreal 00 25 .528 4!
Milwaukee 30 27 .526 %, St. Louis 28 29 .491 61>
Baltimore 27 26 .509 12 New York 25 29 .463 8
Boston 27 27 .500 2 Pittsburgh 24 29 .453 8%j
Cleveland 22 36 .379 9 Philadelphia 24 34 .414 11
West West
Chicago 32 22 .593 - San Francisco 39 25 .609 -
Minnesota 30 25 .545 2' Los Angeles 37 24 .607 2
Kansas City 32 30 .516 4 Houston 34 29 .539 41/
California 28 27 .509 4y/ Cincinnati 31 28 .525 5 j
Oakland 30 29 .5080 4 f Atlanta 26 34 433 11
Texas 19 35 .352 13 San Diego 20 42 .322 1
Yesterday's Results Yesterday's Results
Baltimore 8, Kansas City 3
New York at Oakland, inc. Montreal 5, San Diego 3
Boston at California, Inc. Chicago 5,. Houston 4
Tonight's Games Tonight's Games
Texas (Siebert 3-5) at Baltimore Chicago (Hooton 6-3) at Atlanta
Cuellar 2-6) 7:30 p.m. (Harrison 1-2)
Minnesota (woodson 5-3) at De- San Francisco (Bryant 10-3) at
troit (Perry 7-4) Philadelphia (Twitchell 5-2)
Kansas City (Splittorff 9-3) at Los Angeles (Downing 5-3) at Mon-
Cleveland (Tidrow 4-6) treal (McAnally 3-1)
Milwaukee (Slaton 3-5) at Chicago Pittsburgh (Moose 5-5) at Cincin-
(wood 14-6) nati (Norman 1-7)
Boston (Pattin 6-7) at Oakland San Diego (Arlin 2-3) at New York
(Hunter 8-3) (Matlak 3-8)
New York (Stottlemyre 7-6) at St. Louis (Foster 4-3) at Houston
California (Singer 10.3) (Roberts 6-3)