Stadler Burns Dunes, Takes Three-Shot Lead

PALM DESERT —  Each day Craig Stadler has teed it up in the Bob Hope Classic, opening event of the $20-million PGA tour, he has played a little better than the previous day. If he keeps it up for the final two days of the unique 90-hole event in which players rotate among four different courses the first four days, he will not only have a $90,000 paycheck for the year’s first week, but also a tournament record. Stadler, the ruddy-faced competitor who wore a beard when he won his first tournament here in 1980, shot an eight-under-par 64 Friday to equal the Bermuda Dunes course record and move three shots ahead of the field after 54 holes. His 66-68-64--198 total is 18-under par, and with a round today at Tamarisk and the finale Sunday at Indian Wells, he is well within range of the record 25-under-par 335 first shot by Bruce Litzke in 1981 and later equaled by Ed Fiori, Tom Kite, Keith Fergus and Rex Caldwell. Litzke holds the 54-hole record of 196. “Every day of competition under my belt helps,” Stadler said. “Today I drove well, hit my irons well and putted well. Of course, you have to do everything well to shoot 64. I feel I’m getting sharper every day. Actually, I played much better yesterday than I did the first day even though the scores don’t indicate it.” Ron Streck, with a 66 at Indian Wells Friday, is second at 201, one shot ahead of Lanny Wadkins, who shot 68 at La Quinta. Two desert residents, Mark O’Meara of Palm Desert and Fred Couples of La Quinta, are still in the chase. O’Meara, 69 at La Quinta, is tied at 203 with Larry Mize, 67 at Bermuda Dunes, while Couples, after a 68 at Indian Wells, is at 204 with Doug Tewell, 70 at Bermuda Dunes. Tim Simpson, the 36-hole leader, stumbled to a 74 at La Quinta and fell from first place to a tie for 19th at 207. Par, an acceptable score at a U. S. Open, is proving no match for the professionals at these flat, desert courses with their immaculately clipped greens. Of the 128 pros in the field, 98 are under par. When the cut is made after today’s round, leaving only the low 70 and ties to play Sunday, scores of six- or seven-under par may not be good enough. John Fought, who hasn’t accomplished much since winning two tournaments in his rookie year in 1979, equaled Stadler’s 64 at Bermuda Dunes. Former U. S. Public Links champion Jodie Mudd blistered Indian Wells’ front nine with a six-under-par 30 and finished with 65. The fairways at Bermuda Dunes--and at the other courses, too,--are so lush that Stadler was using his driver for long fairway shots. On No. 1, a 534-yard par 5, he almost made an eagle. After hitting two drivers, he chipped to within three inches of the cup for the first of his eight birdies. “I hit some good shots on the first two or three holes, and when you do that it gets you feeling good. I’m hitting two or three funny shots a day but getting away with it. I was a little disappointed to three-putt the last green, but it was the fault of my second shot more than my putter.” The former USC All-American had 240 yards to the green after his tee shot on the 505-yard 18th hole. “I used a 3-wood and got a little quick on my swing and pulled it (to the left). The ball was on the green, but it was at least 120 feet from the pin. I hit my first one about 10 feet past the hole and missed coming back.” It was Stadler’s only three-putt green in 54 holes. Stadler, who gives his putter a quick flip at his golf bag when it’s not working right, had little reason to abuse it Friday. He made a 20-footer at No. 10, a 25-footer at No. 12, and a 20-footer at No. 16 for birdies. “That putter has plenty of battle scars on it,” he said with a laugh, “but it’s been pretty good to me.” Stadler’s 64 was not his career best. He had a 62 last November in the Kapalua International and another 62 at Quail Hollow in the opening round of the Kemper Open. “I shot a 62 that day and was only one shot behind. Jerry McGee shot a 61 the same day.” Streck, who once shot a PGA-record 63-62 in the San Antonio Open, might be only one shot off the lead but for an unfortunate incident on opening day at Tamarisk. “I hit a shot that either landed up in a palm tree and didn’t come down, or someone in the gallery ahead of us picked it up,” said Streck. “It wasn’t that bad a shot and no one saw it hit the tree, but we couldn’t find the ball anywhere. I was three-under (par) at the time and made a double bogey.” Streck finished with a flourish, making birdies on the final three holes with a series of putts in the 15-foot range. He made an eagle on the 517-yard fifth hole when he knocked a 5-wood second shot on the green and sank a 20-foot putt. “I almost didn’t play here because of a knee I hurt skiing at Keystone,” said Streck, an all-around athlete who was more sought-after as a basketball player than a golfer after high school. “I strained ligaments on both sides of my left knee and I was afraid it would swell up, but it feels fine. I’ve just been sitting around for three weeks, hoping it would get better.” Although he was only 81st in money earnings last year--his poorest season since 1977--Streck ended the season with a win in the Chrysler Team Championship tournament playing with Phil Hancock. “I played extremely well in the team championship,” he said, “and I guess I’m having a little carry-over from that tournament. I only missed two greens today and one yesterday.” Streck apparently is injury-prone when he’s not on the golf course. He missed six weeks last year with a sore knee (the right one) he hurt playing tennis. And in December, 1982 he cracked two ribs skiing and missed the first month of the 1983 season. Then, just before the Masters, he suffered a torn cartilage in his knee in a pick-up basketball game that sidelined him for another month. Today’s rounds complete the four-day shuffle as Bob Hope returns to action at Indian Wells in a celebrity foursome with Jack Nicklaus, former President Gerald Ford and House Speaker Tip O’Neill. Stadler, though, will be at Tamarisk and Streck at Bermuda Dunes.