Missed Putt By Woods Gives Oklahoma State National Golf Title

Tiger Woods came up short in a bid for the individual NCAA golf title, then missed a putt in a team playoff as Oklahoma State took the national championship from Stanford Saturday.

Woods, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, shot a 71 on Ohio State’s Scarlet Course to complete four rounds at 2-under-par 286. That was three shots back of Auburn’s Chip Spratlin, who struggled to a 75 but still had enough of an advantage to win medalist honors by one stroke over Arizona’s Ted Purdy and Oklahoma State’s Chris Tidland.

With the individual title gone, Woods still had a shot at a piece of the team trophy. And he had a shot at it after Stanford got into a playoff with Oklahoma State, the first extra-hole affair in the 98-year history of NCAA tournament golf.

The playoff ended quickly, with Kris Cox and Alan Bratton sinking birdie putts on the first extra hole as Oklahoma State wrested the title away from defending champion Stanford. It was the eighth national championship for Oklahoma State, ranked No. 1 in the polls.

At East Lansing, Mich., Tracy Hanson of Rathdrum, Idaho, was sizzling for the second consecutive day and is in position to win her first LPGA title.

Hanson shot her second consecutive 5-under 67 for a three-day total of 9-under 207 at the Oldsmobile Classic.

Hanson is tied for third place, four strokes out of the lead, with four other players. Everyone is chasing Dale Eggeling, who has led the entire way.

Eggeling, playing in a steady rain, had her worst round of the tournament with a 1-under 71.

Eggeling moved to a 13-under 203, two strokes ahead of Joan Pitcock.

At Dublin, Ohio, Greg Norman held a one-stroke lead when darkness halted play in the weather-troubled third round of the Memorial tournament.

Norman birdied the 14th hole in the gathering gloom of early evening to move ahead of nine others who are within two shots of the top spot.

Play was held up 4 hours, 50 minutes by thunderstorms that ripped through the central Ohio area and backed up the final starting time to 6:10 p.m. EDT.

Twenty-two players, including most of the leaders, marked their positions on the rain-sodden Muirfield Village Golf Club course and are scheduled to return at 8:20 a.m. EDT today to complete third-round play.

At Birmington, Ala., Graham Marsh, an Australian looking for his first victory in the United States since 1977, tied a Bruno’s Memorial Classic record with a 9-under-par 63 to take a commanding five-shot lead in the Senior PGA event.

The 13-under score put him in position to smash another tournament record, the 15-under set by last year’s winner, Jim Dent.