Defending Champion Will Face Tigermania

A quick smile spread across Justin Leonard’s face as he ran his thumb down the Buick Open pairing sheet.

The luck of the draw put him in a threesome with Tiger Woods and Payne Stewart for the first round today in Grand Blanc, Mich.

So much for rank having its privilege. Leonard, who won the British Open three weeks ago, is also the defending Buick Open champion.

Tony Lema, the 1964 and 1965 champion, is the only player to win consecutive Buick Open titles. If he hopes to match Lema’s feat, Leonard will have to deal not only with the rolling 7,105 yards of Warwick Hills Country Club, but a runaway case of Tigermania.

Because of Woods:

- There have been over 450 requests for media credentials, more than twice as many as usual.

- PGA Tour officials have placed limits on the number of television cameras on a platform in the interview area of the press tent.

- All reporters and photographers on the course this week have been asked not to go inside the ropes around the teeing grounds.

Still, the crowds that show up where Woods does are almost an accepted part of the PGA scene now.

Tournament sponsor Peter Jacobsen says the Fred Meyer Challenge, considered the most successful non-tour event in men’s professional golf, may move to a new home next year.

The course at the Oregon Golf Club, in the headlands above the Willamette River south of Portland, was designed by Jacobsen and has been the tournament’s home since 1990.

But the residential development has eaten away parking space.

At West Newton, Mass., qualifying medalist Virginia Derby Grimes won two matches Wednesday to advance to the third round of the 97th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at the Brae Burn Country Club.

Grimes, 33, a third-round loser in the 1995 tournament at nearby Brookline after tying for medalist honors, beat Stacy Rambin of Tulsa, Okla., 5 and 3, and added a 1-up decision over Amy Dahle of Red Lake Falls, Minn.

Marisa Baena, 20, of Colombia, the runner-up last year to Kelli Kuehne at Lincoln, Neb., also advanced, beating Marion Maney-McInerney of Dedham, Mass., 3 and 2, and Julia Boros of Plantation, Fla., 3 and 2.