Sutton and Sander Share Lead at Memphis With 65s

Hal Sutton, winner of more than $1 million in barely 3 1/2 years on the pro tour, and Bill Sander, who is in last place on this year’s money list, each shot a seven-under-par 65 Thursday to share the first-round lead in the $500,000 Memphis golf tournament at Memphis, Tenn.

Sutton, a former PGA champion who has had numerous high finishes but no victories since 1983, had three of his seven birdies in a four-hole span after a 90-minute delay caused by an electrical storm.

Sander, who hadn’t broken par previously this year while winning only $712, was in the last threesome to finish and caught Sutton with a birdie on the final hole. He had dropped back on the previous hole with a bogey.

One stroke behind the leaders was David Ogrin. John Mahaffey and George Burns were two shots back.

“This was my best round this year,” said Sutton, who was second at Los Angeles and third at Hilton Head, S.C. “I never had a chance to make a bogey. I’ve been working on my mental course management, and my concentration was very good. Not even the delay broke it.”

Sander, who didn’t even know he’d be playing this week until he got the word Wednesday, arrived in Memphis from Charleston, S.C., Wednesday night and played Thursday without having practiced on the course.

“I didn’t know if we were going to get it in,” said Sander, who ran off five straight birdies from the sixth through the 10th holes. “But I came out after the rain delay and really got it cranked up.”

Mahaffey made a hole-in-one with a 195-yard 4-iron shot en route to his 67.

“I should have done better today than I did,” he said. “That 67 was the highest I could have shot. It was a good round, but not a great round. I missed a lot of 8- to 10-foot birdie chances.”

Steve Pate, the rookie who lost in a playoff with Wayne Levi last Sunday at Atlanta, had a 74.

Medalist Sam Randolph of Santa Barbara took advantage of his opponent’s mistakes to win on the 20th hole in his second-round match with Aly Trompas of Walnut Creek at the State Amateur championship on the Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Randolph, three down after 14 holes, won the 15th and 16th, then halved the 17th when Trompas missed short putts. He tied the match when Trompas hit two balls into the ocean on the 18th.

Both players parred the first extra hole. The match ended at the par-five second hole when Randolph two-putted from 18 feet for a birdie and Trompas made a par.

Defending champion Duffy Waldorf of Tarzana beat Burlingame’s John Abendroth in the morning but was defeated in the second round by Dennis Paulson of San Diego, 1 up. Randolph’s first-round victim was Guy Hertfelder of Rancho Santa Fe.

Walter Zembriski, a 50-year-old Florida professional playing in his first seniors tournament, shot a four-under-par 68 to take a two-stroke lead in the first round of the $225,000 U.S. Seniors Open on the Edgewood course at Stateline, Nev.

Australia’s Peter Thomson, the leading money winner on the seniors tour with $205,842, was second at 70, with defending champion Miller Barber at 71.

Arnold Palmer, Ben Smith and James King shot 72s. Palmer had an up-and-down round with five birdies and five bogeys.

Zembriski turned 50 May 24, making him eligible for the seniors tour. He played on the PGA Ttour for a brief time in the late 1960s. His best finish in a major PGA event came in the 1978 U.S. Open, when he tied for 56th.