Gene Sauers

Gene Sauers recorded two eagles yesterday to vault into the lead after three rounds of the five-round, $1.1 million Bob Hope Classic golf tournament. Sauers did not drive the ball particularly well but was on fire on the greens as he recorded an 8-under-par 64 on the La Quinta course, one of four used in the tournament. Sauers stood at 18-under-par 198 for a 1-stroke advantage over overnight leader Steve Elkington of Australia, who also carded a pair of eagles yesterday. Mark O'Meara, who shot a 65, and Kenny Perry with a 66 shared third place just 2 strokes from the lead.

Scott Hoch, playing consistent golf through the gloom on the first nine holes, took the first-round lead with a record-setting 67 yesterday in the Tylenol Kids Classic at the Commonwealth National Country Club in Horsham. Hoch's 4-under par total gave him a 2-stroke lead in this two-day affair on the par-71, 7,045-yard Commonwealth course. It also broke the course record of 70, set by Frank Dobbs, assistant pro at Spring-Ford Country Club. Tied for second place, with matching 69s, after the pro-am portion of the event were Kirk Triplett and Mark Brooks, two relatively obscure players on the PGA tour.

Davis Love 3d shot a 67 yesterday for his first PGA tournament victory, winning the Heritage Classic by a stroke when Steve Jones suffered a double bogey on the final hole on Hilton Head Island, S.C. Jones appeared in command with a 1-shot lead entering No. 18. Love was already in the clubhouse with a 67, for a total of 13-under-par 271. But at the par-4 hole, Jones hit his tee shot out of bounds and finished with a double-bogey that cost him...

Gene Sauers birdied the final hole to finish with a 7-under 64 and gain a share of the lead with Steve Jones in the twice-delayed third round of the $650,000 Heritage Classic yesterday at Hilton Head Island, S.C. Sauers hit a 5-iron second shot 3 inches from the cup on the 18th hole and made the easy putt for a share of the 54-hole lead. Jones, who got into the invitational only as an alternate after Tony Sills withdrew, had a bogey-free 67. Sauers, a native of Savannah, Ga., and Jones, 28, who has yet to win in four years on the tour, each finished three rounds over the 6,656-yard Harbour Town Golf Links at 13-under 200. "I'm right where I want to be," said Sauers, whose only tour win came last year in the Bank of Boston Classic.

Gene Sauers chipped in for a birdie on the final hole yesterday to win the rain-shortened Hawaiian Open in Honolulu. Sauers took the lead with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole, then finished off a final-round 65 by chipping in from just off the back fringe of the green for the second victory in his six-year PGA career. He finished the 54-hole event in 19-under-par 197. The tournament was reduced to a three-round, 54-hole format by heavy rains that disrupted play Friday and Saturday.

Kris Monaghan shot a 4-under-par 67 yesterday for a 2-stroke victory in the $300,000 Red Robin Kyocera Inamori Classic, her first victory in six years on the LPGA tour. Monaghan, whose round included six birdies and two bogeys, posted scores of 72-67-70-67 and finished at 8-under 276 over the 6,024-yard Stone- Ridge Country Club course. She earned $45,000. Cathy Gerring finished second at 278 and collected $27,750. Tied for third at 279 were Rosie Jones and two-time champion Ayako Okamoto of Japan.

When Scott Hoch made a mistake yesterday at Commonwealth National Country Club in Horsham, he quickly made up for it. Birdies followed bogeys. In the stretch, Hoch was virtually mistake-free. He birdied four of the last five holes and finished with a 65 - the day's best round - and successfully defended his Tylenol Kids Classic title by 3 strokes. His two-day total of 10-under-par 132 was the lowest in the tournament's two years at the par-71, 7,045-yard Commonwealth course.

Gene Sauers had held a first-round lead amid sweltering heat once before, and the memory was not a fond one. The 25-year-old Georgian led the drought-stricken Hardee's Classic in Illinois two weeks ago before he ran into what he called "caddie problems. " "My caddie fainted on the 14th hole one day, but told me that night that he was OK and he'd be back," Sauers said. "The next day he fainted on the 11th. " But in tropical conditions yesterday at White Manor Country Club in Malvern, the caddies remained conscious, and Sauers held on, too, withstanding charges by Nick Price and Mark O'Meara to capture top honors in the $215,000 McNeil Classic.

Scott Hoch and Irishman Philip Walton took the spotlight from British Open champion John Daly, shooting 6-under-par 65s yesterday to tie for the first- round lead in the Dutch Open. Daly struggled to a 72. Daly drew the biggest crowds of the day, but could not put on the type of show for them that carried him to victory in the British Open. One stroke behind the coleaders were Terry Price of Australia, Thomas Levet of France, Alexander Cejka of Germany and Vijay Singh of Fiji.

Two former champions headed the field after yesterday's first round of play in the fifth annual Tylenol Kids Classic at the Commonwealth National Country Club in Horsham. Gene Sauers, the 1990 winner, and defending champion Scott Hoch both carded 4-under-par 67s to share the 1-stroke lead over four other players. Mike Reid, Duffy Waldorf, Mac O'Grady and Rocco Mediate all came in with 68s. Chris Perry, Keith Clearwater and Gil Morgan all posted 69s going into today's final round on the par-71, 7,045-yard Commonwealth layout.

Casey Martin will no doubt win again on the Nike tour. He has the game; he has the heart. But it won't be this week. In yesterday's third round of the Nike Greater Austin Open - "moving day" in the world of professional golf - Martin pretty much cruised along in the slow lane with a ho-hum, even-par 72 that left him eating dust at 6 strokes off the lead. "It's mathematically possible," a slightly dispirited and tired-looking Martin said after his round, referring to his chances of winning.

Scott Hoch and Irishman Philip Walton took the spotlight from British Open champion John Daly, shooting 6-under-par 65s yesterday to tie for the first- round lead in the Dutch Open. Daly struggled to a 72. Daly drew the biggest crowds of the day, but could not put on the type of show for them that carried him to victory in the British Open. One stroke behind the coleaders were Terry Price of Australia, Thomas Levet of France, Alexander Cejka of Germany and Vijay Singh of Fiji.

Scott Hoch was the big story as the sixth annual Tylenol Kids Classic Pro- Am golf tournament opened at White Manor Country Club in Malvern. But he wasn't the only story. Hoch, who won the event the past two years, yesterday birdied five of the last nine holes to finish with a 4-under-par 68 after one round. As the tournament winds down today, Hoch will have a slew of competitors chasing him, including: Chris Perry, son of Jim Perry and nephew of Gaylord Perry, both former major league pitchers, whose 69 included five birdies.

Gene Sauers' face was a mask of serenity as he held on to the PGA Championship lead through each of the first three days and the opening five holes of yesterday's final round. But there was no masking the hurt in Sauers at the end of yesterday's round. He had started the day with a 2-shot lead, but he had faded to a closing 75 on the Bellerive Country Club course and fallen into a four-way tie for second place, 3 shots behind champion Nick Price. "Very much so," Sauers said when asked how disappointed he was. "I hope I get an opportunity again to win a major.

Gene Sauers adopted quite a routine for each of the first three days of the PGA Championship. It sounds so simple - approach each round as if it's just another golf tournament, shoot a subpar score, then try to convince others that it's a business-as-usual week and not the final pressure-packed major championship of 1992. But the routine worked for Sauers once again yesterday at Bellerive Country Club. The unflappable Georgian finished the third round exactly as he started it, with a 2-shot lead, thanks to a 20-foot eagle putt at the par-5 17th hole.

After completing his best 36-hole stretch in a major championship, Gene Sauers should have been a little nervous, a little on edge knowing that he led golf's elite at the halfway point of the PGA Championship. But that's not Sauers' style. The 29-year-old Georgian was so laid back, so mellow, so unexcitable during yesterday's postround interview that he was asked at one point if his "pilot light" was on. "I think that's the best way for me," Sauers said calmly after his 2- under-par 69 gave him a 2-shot lead in the PGA. "When I was little, my brother pounded it into my head to be patient.

Normally, when Craig Stadler decides to take a timeout from golf, he tosses his clubs in a closet and forgets about them. Last week, when "The Walrus" retreated to his San Diego home after missing the cut in the European Tour's Scandinavian Open, he did more than grab a little rest and relaxation. He got together with his teaching pro, Dick Harmon, to iron out some of the kinks in a swing that has largely deserted him this season. Yesterday, Stadler shot a course-record 4-under-par 67 to share the PGA Championship first-round lead with Gene Sauers.

When Scott Hoch made a mistake yesterday at Commonwealth National Country Club in Horsham, he quickly made up for it. Birdies followed bogeys. In the stretch, Hoch was virtually mistake-free. He birdied four of the last five holes and finished with a 65 - the day's best round - and successfully defended his Tylenol Kids Classic title by 3 strokes. His two-day total of 10-under-par 132 was the lowest in the tournament's two years at the par-71, 7,045-yard Commonwealth course.

The Philadelphia area hasn't hosted a regular PGA Tour event since 1980. But the way Gene Sauers has played at the Tylenol Kids Classic for Cystic Fibrosis since its inception in 1988, the 29-year-old Georgian can only hope that this one day becomes a full-fledged, 72-hole tournament. Sauers, who has earned almost $2.5 million since turning professional eight years ago, won the inaugural Kids Classic at White Manor Country Club in Malvern, Pa. Two years ago, he again finished in first place there.

Two former champions headed the field after yesterday's first round of play in the fifth annual Tylenol Kids Classic at the Commonwealth National Country Club in Horsham. Gene Sauers, the 1990 winner, and defending champion Scott Hoch both carded 4-under-par 67s to share the 1-stroke lead over four other players. Mike Reid, Duffy Waldorf, Mac O'Grady and Rocco Mediate all came in with 68s. Chris Perry, Keith Clearwater and Gil Morgan all posted 69s going into today's final round on the par-71, 7,045-yard Commonwealth layout.