| Williamsburg,
Va, 8th October 1998
- David Duval, the most successful golfer in the world since his first victory
here last year, shot a 6-under-par 65 Thursday to grab a share of the first-round
lead in the Michelob Championship. Duval
made three straight birdies beginning on the 14th hole, then had a 12-footer lip
out on the final hole. Phil Tataurangi also had a 65, making six birdies and no
bogeys on the 6,853-yard River Course at Kingsmill. Local
resident Curtis Strange, Frank Lickliter and Steve Pate had 66s
on a rainy, cool day along the James River. Duval's
victory in a playoff with Duffy Waldorf and Grant Waite last year was
his first, and he's added five more in becoming the first golfer to win three
times in consecutive seasons since Nick Price in 1992 and 1993. Duval
also leads the tour with more than $2.1 million in earnings, and said he's eyeing
the money title as a secondary consolation prize. "Having
not won a major, it certainly would be nice," he said. Tataurangi,
165th on the money list, made five birdie putts inside eight feet and rolled in
two 20-footers, one to save par and one for birdie. "My
putting's been holding me back a little bit, but I feel I've really been playing
well," the 28-year-old New Zealander said. "I've been kind of waiting
for a low round to show up, and I'm glad it showed up today." It
could have been lower still, he said, if he'd made more putts. "I
hit a lot of nice iron shots where I didn't make birdies," he said. Strange,
a non-winner since his second U.S. Open title in 1989, used a blistering four-hole
stretch to do most of his scoring. Starting on the back, he made three straight
birdies, then an eagle on the 538-yard third when he hit a driver and then knocked
a fairway 4-wood to within 10 feet. He
would have had a share of the lead, too, but he three-putted his final hole from
35 feet, missing a 4-footer for the second time on the day. "I'm
pleased with the round," he said. "Obviously I'm disappointed with the
finish, very much so. ... You hate to finish like that." Strange
is no stranger to contending here. He tied for sixth in 1995, then started the
next year with a 65, one shot behind wire-to-wire winner Scott Hoch. A second-round
77 took Strange out of contention. As
the unofficial host, he said other things sometimes get in the way. "You
want to do well in front of your family and friends," he said. "...
But I think it might be something good for me now because it keeps my concentration
out there. I've worked very hard out there this week. "Everybody
knows what this tournament and this place mean to me." Pate,
who is 38th on the money list and trying to work his way into the top 30, and
thus in the field for the lucrative Tour Championship, needed only 24 putts and
made six birdies despite hitting only five fairways. "I
putted extremely well, I hit my irons well. Basically I did everything well except
hit my driver," he said. Divots:
Jeff Gallagher withdrew after an 82 that included an 11 on the par-5 seventh hole.
Told about the 11, Strange said: "The most accurate phrase out here is that
50 percent don't care that he made 11 and the other 50 percent wish he'd made
12." Lickliter, proud new owner of a jet black Hummer, said he bought the
vehicle made popular by the Gulf War as a reward for a solid season and plans
to drive it to about 10 events next season, including the Masters. "I'm looking
forward to driving down Magnolia Lane in that," he said. "If you have
the means, I recommend that you pick one up." Tataurangi recently returned
from a trip back to New Zealand to see his aunt, who has since died of cancer.
He's playing with a pink ribbon affixed to his hat, symbolic of national breast
cancer awareness month. Billy Andrade finished the day two shots off the
lead despite a 7 on the par-4 fourth. | 
