Golf Roundup : Lightning Rains on Hoch’s Parade

Scott Hoch wasn’t exactly swinging in the rain, but he didn’t want to stop.

Hoch moved into a four-stroke lead at 16 under par with 25 holes remaining in the $832,000 Memorial golf tournament at Dublin, Ohio.

Hoch, who had an eight-under-par 64 Friday for a 36-hole total of 131, played 11 holes Saturday before the round was halted because of lightning in the area. Rain came an hour later and forced postponement of the rest of the round.

“I would very much have preferred to keep going,� Hoch said. “I was in a good rhythm, though I wasn’t hitting the ball as well as the last two days. I feel good about my game.�

Hoch parred the first six holes, but Curt Byrum shaved two shots off the lead with a pair of birdies.

However, Hoch birdied Nos. 7, 8 and 9 with putts of 15, 15 and 10 feet to regain his four-shot margin.

Dan Pooley, who had five consecutive birdies on the front nine, was tied with Byrum at 12 under par.

South African Denis Watson shot a 65 and was the leader in the clubhouse at 10-under-par 206. John Mahaffey, six under par through 16 holes Saturday, also was at 10 under par.

Players still on the course will conclude their third rounds this morning before the final 18 holes begin. However, the National Weather Service forecast calls for a 50% chance of thunderstorms.

Canadian Dawn Coe shot a five-under-par 67 at Corning, N.Y., to take a one-stroke lead over Kathryn Young in the $275,000 LPGA Corning tournament.

Coe picked up four birdies on the back nine and was at 203 after 54 holes.

Young, the leader after the first round and a co-leader after two rounds, shot a 69.

Jane Geddes, the tour’s top money-winner this year, and Laurie Rinker, the defending champion, were at 205.

Betsy King, who made a hole-in-one on the 125-yard 15th hole and shot a 65, was tied with Robin Walton and Rosie Jones at 206.

Bruce Crampton shot a course-record, eight-under-par 64 to tie Walt Zembriski after two rounds of the $250,000 Denver seniors tournament at Castle Rock, Colo.

Crampton, who hasn’t won an individual title this season after winning seven times a year ago, came from six strokes off the pace.

Zembriski, a one-time construction worker, had a bogey-free 68 to equal Crampton’s total of 137.

One stroke back was left-hander Bob Charles, a three-time winner this season, who had a 68. Dale Douglass, with a second-round 69, came in at 139, and defending champion Gary Player and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback John Brodie were at 140.

First-round leader Ben Smith ballooned to an 80, taking a 9 on the 18th hole, and was at 147.

Sophomore Anne Jones sank a 15-foot putt on the final hole to give San Jose State the NCAA women’s championship at Albuquerque, N.M.

New Mexico senior Caroline Keggi won the individual title in a sudden-death playoff with Jones, after the two finished the 72-hole tournament deadlocked at 289, three under par on the University of New Mexico South course.

Furman finished a shot back at 1,188, with two-time defending champion Florida third at 1,190. USC was fourth, and Miami, the leader going into the final round, dropped to fifth.