Eggeling Fires 63 For Career Best, Tournament Lead

Dale Eggeling, who has won only once since joining the LPGA Tour in 1976, tied a tournament record Thursday with a 9-under-par 63 in the opening round of the Oldsmobile Classic at East Lansing, Mich.

Eggeling had five birdies over seven holes on the back nine and leads Sweden’s Helen Alfredsson by two strokes.

Nanci Bowen, Joan Pitcock and 1993 champion Jane Geddes are tied for third at 66 on the Walnut Hills Country Club.

Eggeling had nine birdies to match the 63 set by Beth Daniel, who won the tourney last year but opened with a 74.

“My iron play was pretty darn good,” said Eggeling, who hit 17 greens in regulation. “I have been hitting the ball well the past month.”

Eggeling, whose lone tour victory came at the 1980 Boston Five Classic, had no birdie putt longer than 13 feet.

Tracy Hanson of Rathdrum, Idaho, opened with a 1-over 73.

Greg Norman returned from a sixweek hiatus with a 6-under 66 and shared the lead in the rain-delayed and uncompleted first round of the Memorial tournament at Dublin, Ohio.

Norman, tied with Mark O’Meara, had not played since back spasms forced him out of the Heritage Classic in April.

“Maybe I ought to take more six-week breaks,” he said. “I knew I was playing well and on the back nine, all of a sudden my feel and my game started coming back.”

Fifty-five of the starting field of 113 were stranded on the rain-soaked Muirfield Village Golf Club course when play was called for the day.

Kirk Triplett of Pullman shot a 1-overpar 73.

John Daly, the longest driver on the tour, withdrew when informed his wife had gone into labor.

Tiger Woods, the 19-year-old U.S. Amateur champion, shot an even-par 72 in a rain-delayed second round as his defending champion Stanford Cardinal took a two-stroke lead over top-ranked Oklahoma State at the NCAA golf championships in Columbus, Ohio.

Woods was at 145 after two rounds in the individual competition, seven strokes behind Oklahoma State’s Chris Tidland, who shot his second 69 for a 6-under 138, and Chip Spratlin of Auburn, who followed his opening 67 with a 71.