On Dark Day, Crampton Can Watch Birdies : Golf: His 63 moves him to within one shot of Rodriguez, who sets 36-hole record, unaffected by thunder, lightning.

By DAN HAFNER

March 8, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

OJAI — Neither wind, thunder nor lightning could knock Chi Chi Rodriguez off his perch Saturday, but Bruce Crampton almost did.

Rodriguez posted a four-under-par 66 at Ojai Valley Inn & Country Club and a record 36-hole total of 128 in the GTE West Senior PGA Classic to withstand Crampton’s 63 round and 129 total--barely.

Crampton, who had 10 birdies and three bogeys Saturday, had trailed Rodriguez by four strokes after Rodriguez’s opening-round record 62, but when lightning struck in the middle of the second round, Crampton was one stroke behind.

There was no rain, but the crackling thunder and the lightning forced a 1-hour 45-minute delay. When play was resumed, the nearby mountains were covered with snow.

Crampton actually caught Rodriguez, but wound up one shot behind at 129.

Rodriguez broke the tournament 36-hole record he shared with Walt Zembriski by four shots and missed tying the senior tour record for any tournament by a stroke.

The final round today figures to be a battle between Rodriguez and Crampton. Jim Colbert, affected by the delay, is at 134, five shots behind Crampton.

When the siren halting play was sounded shortly after a bolt of lightning shook the media tent, Crampton was on the ninth hole and Rodriguez and Colbert on the eighth. At the time, Rodriguez was nine under par, Crampton was eight and Colbert seven. Only Colbert failed to improve after play resumed.

“It affected Colbert,” Rodriguez said. “He has a back problem. I’m sure it stiffened up. He is playing well and would have been close.”

When play resumed, Crampton hit a nine-iron within 12 feet and sank the putt for a front nine of 30, which included six birdies and a bogey. It gave him a tie for the lead.

A few minutes later Rodriguez untied it on the same ninth hole, a 517-yard par five, when he sank a 12-foot putt from the fringe. Thanks to a spectacular shot on No. 15, he stayed in front the rest of the way.

The 15th hole is an uphill 360-yard par four. Rodriguez and Colbert hit their drives into the rough on the right under a tree. Colbert had no shot and could only punch the ball into the fairway and bogeyed.

By maneuvering between the branches, Rodriguez had a half swing and hit a seven-iron. The ball landed on the green, going just past the hole. He made a 4 1/2-foot putt for the birdie.

“That was an ex-caddie’s shot,” he said. “They don’t teach that shot in college.”

Crampton hasn’t won since the Tournament of Champions at La Costa in January of 1991.

It is no coincidence that La Costa, like Ojai, has bent-grass greens.

“I putt better on bent grass than on the Bermuda grass in Florida,” he said. “Bent-grass greens are truer.”

Rodriguez didn’t want to predict what would happen today.

“But I better win as many as I can before Raymond Floyd joins us in September,” he said. “During the delay I was watching the Doral. He is really playing well. He is going to be so tough.”

Of course, Rodriguez said pretty much the same thing a few years ago when Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino joined the seniors, and he has won more than $1.5 million since then.

Golf Notes

Among Bruce Crampton’s 10 birdies was a four-iron shot on the 177-yard 14th that missed being a hole in one by an inch. . . . The delay affected Miller Barber as much as anyone. Bothered by bursitis in his right arm, Barber bogeyed three of the last four holes. He still managed to win the super-senior portion of the tournament. Barber, who was three under par before the lightning delay, shot par 140 to win the $11,000 top prize in the event for 60-and-older players. The bursitis has been a problem for three weeks. He has won super-seniors events seven times in two years.