GOLF ROUNDUP : Norman, Couples, Cochran Tied for Lead

Greg Norman, Fred Couples and Russ Cochran will be chasing the same thing for different reasons today in the final round of the Western Open at Lemont, Ill.

Norman will be attempting to end a yearlong non-winning string that has brought him criticism, frustration and confusion.

Couples, the big hitter called Boom Boom by his fellow pros, will be seeking a second victory in as many weeks.

And Cochran, one of the few left-handers on the PGA Tour, will be in pursuit of his first victory in a nine-year career.

The three were tied for the lead at 206, 10 under par, after Saturday’s third round.

And, just as their motivations for victory differ, so did the manner in which they reached a share of the of the top spot.

Couples, a winner in Memphis last week, one-putted 12 times on the Dubsdread course at Cog Hill, including the first eight greens. His 68 included birdies on five of the first six holes.

Cochran also had a 68 and owned the lead alone until he missed the green and bogeyed the final hole.

Norman, the leader after two rounds, salvaged a 71 with some improbable shots.

He played one shot from the water, on the 10th. He made par after bouncing a shot over a bunker on the 14th. He chipped in from 35 feet for par after being in a hazard on the 12th. And he made par-saving putts of 25 feet on the 10th and from 12 feet on the 18th.

Gary Hallberg, Andrew Magee and Mike Springer were at 208, two strokes off the pace.

Alice Miller, who hasn’t won in six years, shot a five-under-par 66 in the second round of the Jamie Farr Toledo tournament at Sylvania, Ohio, to take a two-stroke lead when Deb Richard double-bogeyed the final hole.

Miller, who hasn’t finished higher than 24th in an LPGA event the past three years, followed an opening 69 for a seven-under 135 heading into the final round at the Highland Meadow Golf Club.

Miller won four tournaments in 1985, including the Nabisco Dinah Shore. She was third on the earnings list with $334,525 that year and, at age 29, was considered a rising star on the LPGA Tour.

Then the bottom fell out. She won a quarter of her 1985 earnings over the next six years and has not finished higher than a tie for 10th in 123 tournaments over that span.

Jack Nicklaus had a five-under-par 66, the day’s best score, but Dale Douglass had the lead going into the final round of the Kroger Senior tournament at Mason, Ohio.

Douglass, one of four tied for the first-round lead, broke away from the pack with a four-under 67 to go to nine-under 133 for the tournament played on the 6,628-yard Grizzly Course at the Jack Nicklaus Sports Center.

Douglass will be paired today with Bob Charles and Al Geiberger, who were two shots back at 135. Nicklaus is at 137.

“I think I’d have to shoot another four-under-par round to win this,” Douglass said. “Jack had a very good round today. I hope he can maintain that pace--about four shots back.”

Charles needed only 24 putts in moving into contention with a 67. “I had 12 one-putt greens, which by any standard is quite good,” Charles said. “It was one of the best putting rounds I’ve had in a long time.”

Masters champion Ian Woosnam easily defended his Monte Carlo Open title, shooting a two-under-par 67 in the final round for a four-stroke victory in Monaco.

Woosnam, who won last year with a course-record 60 on the final round, had a 72-hole score of 261 and earned $108,000.

The victory, which guaranteed Woosnam a spot on the European Ryder Cup team, was his fourth of the year. Besides the Masters, he also won the New Orleans Open and the Mediterranean Open.