Golf Roundup : Final-Hole Bogey Drops Mochrie Into Three-Way Tie

Dottie Pepper Mochrie bogeyed the final hole Friday and dropped back into a three-way tie for the lead in the second round of the 43rd U.S. Women’s Open Championship being played in the Baltimore suburb of Luthersville, Md.

Mochrie, 22, a rookie on the LPGA Tour, completed two trips over the hilly Five Farms course at the Baltimore Country Club in 139.

That equaled the Women’s Open record score for 36 holes, set by Donna Caponi in 1970 and now also shared by first-round leader Liselotte Neumann of Sweden and Juli Inkster, who were tied for the lead at three under par.

Mochrie, daughter of former Detroit Tigers player Don Pepper, was alone in first place until she hit a tree limb with her second shot on the 18th hole, and the ball kicked straight back.

Her third shot made the fringe and she had to get it up and down, making a 3-foot putt, to save a bogey and a share of the top spot.

“A very good bogey,” she said after finishing her round of 2-under-par 69.

Inkster, a three-time women’s amateur champion who admits to a fascination with this tournament, had her husband, Brian, as a caddy during her round of 68.

“We work as a team. It really helps me having him out there. He calms me down. And, yes, we’re still speaking,” she said.

Neumann, who set a tournament record with an opening-round 67, had to overcome some jittery nerves to shoot a 72.

“I was very nervous,” said Neumann, like Mochrie a 22-year-old rookie. “I guess I was scared I might do what I did in Sarasota (earlier this season). I had a big first-round lead, maybe five shots, and lost it all on the second day,” she said.

Tammie Green and Vicki Fergon were two strokes back at 141 after shooting 70s.

JoAnne Carner, at 49 the oldest player in the field, had sole possession of the lead at one point but bogeyed four times in a stretch of five holes and finished with a 74 to reach the halfway point at par 142.

“To hit it as squirrelly as I did on the back nine and still be in contention, it’s hard to believe,” Carner said.

Defending champion Laura Davies of England shot a 73 and was at 145. Nancy Lopez, who has yet to win this title, was at 146 after a 74.

Mark Brooks, homing in on flagsticks with radar-like accuracy, shot a 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Roger Maltbie and rookie Clark Burroughs after two rounds of the $700,000 Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open at Cromwell, Conn.

Brooks, 27, who is in his fifth year on the PGA Tour, had six birdies, four from within five feet, and no bogeys over the par-71, 6,786-yard Tournament Players Club of Connecticut course. He finished with a 36-hole score of 11-under-par 131.

Burroughs, with the help of a 192-yard eagle from the rough, shot his second straight 66, while Maltbie, the first-round leader, had a 68.

Gary Player shot a 4-under-par 66 for a 36-hole total of 131 and a two-stroke lead in the $270,000 British Seniors Open tournament at Turnberry, Scotland.

Billy Casper was second after a 65, and defending champion Neil Coles of England, who also shot a 65, was third at 135.

George Lanning of Tacoma, Wash., shot a 7-under-par 65 to take a two-stroke after the first round of the rain-soaked $250,000 Newport Cup seniors tournament.

Lee Elder, the 1985 Newport Cup winner, Walt Zembriski and Charles Coody were tied for second at 67.

Chi Chi Rodriguez, Larry Mowry, Lou Graham and Bob Erickson were at 68.

James Camaione, often close but never a winner, held a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the 89th Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur Championship at Annandale Golf Club in Pasadena.

Camaione, a 33-year-old salesman from Upland who finished third in this event last year, shot rounds of 72-69--141, one over par. Another veteran amateur, Mitch Voges of Simi Valley, was second after rounds of 70-72--142, and former pro Dave Sheff of San Marino, the 1986 SCGA Amateur champion, was third at 143.

Among those who missed the cut for the final two rounds today and Sunday was defending champion Greg Starkman of Beverly Hills.