Page 16-Saturday, August 12, 1978-The Michigan Daily
Mengert's lead cut to 3
Open unknown shoots
record-tying 64
By ALAN FANGER one shot better than Pontiac's Glenn
Hall and two shots better than Bir-
Al Mengert was chronically tesed mingham's Carl Patron.
by two things yesterday. Gilpin's amazing total included a
First off, there was his own golf spectacular 29 on the back nine.
game, a masterpiece which resembledontebc ni.
yesteday'sstering65-whtilsetbhedFollowing a routine par on the 405-yard
yesterday's sterling 65-until the 10th hole, the Deer Run Country Club
Oakland Hills Country Club pro professional eagled the par-5 11th, and
bogeyed three of the last four holes for a followed that up with three consecutive
round of 69, and a 36-hole total of 134, in birdies.
the 59th Michigan Open being played at WHAT WAS behind such eye-raising
the University Golf Course. play? "I hit most everything long and
AND SECONDLY, there was Dave straight, and putted real well," said
Gilpin. Gilpin, emerging from a euphoric state.
Who? Gilpin. That's right, G-i-1-p-i-n. "In fact, if I hadn't taken an unplayable
A virtual unknown to Michigan golfing lie on the 7th, I would have had a bogey-
circles until yesterday's round, in free round."
which the 29-year-old pro from Horton, Gilpin made what appeared to be a
Michigan equaled the University Cour- Mengert runaway look more like a long-
se record with a sizzling 64. And you distance steeplechase, although the 49-
have to go back to 1932 in order to finda year-old Mengert, a PGA section win-
score that low on this spruce-lined ner in three corners of the country,
layout. didn't seem concerned.
Gilpin's phenomenal day left him but "I'm very satisfied about where I
three shots back of Mengert. It was also am," beamed Mengert. "But I'm not
going to start playing against one single
man until the final few holes of the
tournament."
Mengert shot out of the starting gate
again yesterday, as he birdied two of
the first four holes on the back nine. He
sprinkled in another bird at the par-5
1st, and by then it looked as if Gilpin's
four-hour old record might be in
jeopardy.
THE TREE-LINED links began to
take their effect on Mengert, however,
as he drove into bushes on the 6th and
9th holes. Neither of the lies allowed
him a direct shot atthe flag, and thus he
was set back two shots.
The head pro at the Birmingham club
was also weakened by the numerous
hills on the course. "There's a lot of
hills on this course, and since I use my
legs a lot in my swing, it tired me out,"
he said.
A few big names were absent from
. ..the list of qualifiers. Those who failed to
Randy ( Erskne make the 36-hole cut of 152 included
I 1{c4i £en s a6
Daily Photo by JOHN KNOX
BIRMINGHAM'S AL MENGERT eyes the skies in search of a fairway shot he
has just played in the second round of the Michigan Open held at the 'U' course
yesterday. Mengert, the 49-year-old pro at Oakland Hills Country Club, fashioned
a 2-under par 69 yesterday to give him a three stroke lead. The third and fourth
rounds will be played today and tomorrow at the course on W. Stadium Blvd.
Washtenaw Country Club's Jim Ap-
plegate (76-81-157), two-time Open
champ Gene Bone (77-82-159), and
University Course professional Tom
Simon (76-79-155).
Defending champion Tom Deaton,
who carded a dreary 77 Thursday,
fought back to a respectable 71 and
easily made -the cut. Lynn Janson of
Rockford, the 1974 winner, cleared the
hurdle by an even easier margin, as he
fired a 1 over par 72 to reach the half-
way mark in 146.
RANDY ERSKINE, the 'PGA tour
member returning to the course he
played regularly eight years ago, shota
72 to put him eight strokes back of the
lead with two rounds to play. But Er-
skine conceded that it may be tough to
catch Mengert.
"I'm going to have to shoot awfully
low if I'm going to win. Mengert's going
to be hard to catch now."
Six-run third earns
Billingham his 12th
AMERICAN LEAGUE
EAST
W L Pct. GB
Boston ................ 71 41 .634 -
New York ............. 64 49 .566 71/2
Milwaukee ............ 61 49 .555 9
Detroit ................ 62 50 .555 9l
Baltimore ............. 61 52 .540 10%/
Cleveland ............. 52 60 .464 19
Toronto ........-...... 44 70 .385 28
WEST
Kansas City ........... 63 49 .562 -
California ............. 63 53 .543 11/
Oakland ............... 61 56 .512 41/2
Texas ................. 54 57 .488 8%
Minnesota ............. 47 65 .419 16
Chicago ............... 46 67 .407 17
Seattle ................ 42 73 .365 22
Yesterday's Results
Oakiand2, Minnesota0 (istgame)
Texas 8, cleveland 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
EAST
W L Pct.. GB
Philadelphia-.......... 62 50 .553 -
Chicago ............... 58 55 .513 4%
Montreal------------55 61 .474 9
Pittsburgh-----------..51 60 .459 10 /
New York--..-.-- 48 66 .421 14%/
St. Louis...............45 69 .396 17%
WEST
San Francisco-......... 67 48 .583 -
Los Angeles-........... 67 48 .583 -
Cincinnati ............. 66 48 .579 %
San Diego.............58 57 .504 9
Atlanta..-..............53 60 .469 13
Houston.......-........52 60 .464 131/
Yesterday's Results
CHICAGO (UPI)-Lou Whitaker
and Rusty Staub drove in two runs each
during a six-run third inning and Jack
Billingham captured his sixth straight
win with a six-hitter last night in
leading the Detroit Tigers to a 7-3 vic-
tory over the Chicago White Sox.
Billingham, 12-5, notched his eighth
complete game in22 starts, walking one
and striking out two. Rookie Britt Bur-
ns, 0-2, lasted only 2% innings in picking
up the loss.
Mickey Stanley singled, Alan Tram-
mell walked and Ron LeFlore singled to
open the third inning. Stanley and
Trammell scored on Whitaker's double
and Staub followed with a single to
drive in LeFlore and Whitaker.
Whitaker's sacrifice fly in the fourth
accounted for Detroit's final run. It was
the fourth straight loss for the White
Sox and the sixth win in the last seven
games for the Tigers.
Expos blank
MONTREAL (AP)-Tony Perez
scored Dave Cash on a sacrifice fly and
Ross Grimsley pitched a two-hit
shutout as the Montreal Expos beat the
ChicagoCubs1-lastnight.
Grimsley, 14-8, gave up a single to
Manny Trillo in the second and another
to Bill Buckner in the seventh for the
only Cub baserunners.
Dennis Lamp, 5-12, limited Montreal