Golf Roundup : Douglass Shoots a 67 to Take Two-Shot Lead

Dale Douglass, who began his 1988 playing schedule in sickly fashion last week, birdied two of the final three holes Friday for a 67 that gave him a two-shot lead after the opening round of the $300,000 Suncoast Seniors tournament at Tampa, Fla.

A field of 72 competed under sunny skies and tricky winds at the recently opened 6,631-yard Tampa Palms course, where water comes into play on 11 of 18 holes.

Douglass shrugged off a bogey-5 at the seventh hole with six birdies to stand at 5-under-par. Don Massengale and Orville Moody were tied at 69, and Arnold Palmer, Bruce Devlin and Gary Player were three strokes behind at 70.

At Melbourne, Australia, Jim Benepe of Chicago shot a two-under par 71 to grab a share of the lead halfway through the $288,000 Australian Masters.

After 36 holes over the par-73, 6,951-yard Huntingdale course, Benepe had a score of 139, 7 under par, and was tied with Australian Ian Baker-Finch, who shot a second-round 70.