The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 21

Section 0 F(1'021 The News and Observer Friday April 12 1991 Raleigh NC Wadkins hurries out to share Dead Business Durham developer faces foreclosure I Page 6 Watson Nicklaus sailing toward Masters' dogfight By PETER FINNEY JR New York Daily News A 4 1 4' 4 4' Il c- I ft 3i 4- :1 -ik i-i 'VA R-4 --3 A rei '-4 ::71::: 4 1 if 1 7- i'' i 4-- I 'r -Q---4F 'YA 1' it 1 l'RL: 1 I '0 1::: 1 4 fg? i 4 1::: 'r 1 4' I 4 r- 4 del "1::: "14' 1:: "too 0 I '''''''r 'N JPVitA Al 7 Aye :4411 4 I- lk -k- 1 4 4 4 1' 1-0104- i ii 1: 1 4e" :::::::11 The Associated Press with Lanny Wadkins and Jim Gallagher Jr nii P1 Th Mark Mc Cumber found time to relax at the second tee during his 67 Mc Cumber is tied for the lead The timing might be right for Couples to do his thing Bruce Phillips 1-- 4 AUGUSTA Ga The weeding-out process at the top of the Masters leaderboard is virtually guaranteed each year but it usually isn't completed until the final nine holes on Sunday Thursday that process for the 55th Masters started early Three days early Backing up their growing confidence with brilliant shot-making six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus and two-time winner Tom Watson each mastered Augusta National's par-5s just as they did in the good old days and fired 4-under-par 68s to move within a shot of the lead held by Lanny: Wadkins Mark Mc Cumber and Jim Gallagher Both Nicklaus who hasn't won on the PGA Tour since the 1986 Masters and Watson who hasn't won since 1987 birdied all four par-5s the key to scoring on a day of light wind and rain-softened greens Nicklaus and Watson both looked and sounded as though they will be around for the Sunday dogfight Nicklaus said he would have been satisfied with his round at any age but shooting it at 51 had to give him an t-? i it extra kick 1 "You might be --te? 3 thinking that this is 1U''' your last chance to -t-1 vit win the Masters be- -) cause you don't illy-'I know how long you 't -1 I i 3 A f44-poP41 can keep your 4 game and energy level up" Nicklaus said "But today I g10'''' 19) was about as corn- 441 ---4 posed as I've ever been on this golf course I never got flustered one time" Lanny Wadkins Watson who switched to a dif- ferent putter al hANII al this week flinched on Lanny Wadkins 34-33-67 just one putt Thurs- Jim Gallagher Jr 34-33-67 d- a- Mark McGomber-- 33-34-67 day He misse Fred oupes 34-34-68 four-footer for par Tom Watson 34-34-68 on the third hole Jack Nicklaus 33-35-68 but made up for Jumbo Ozaki 35-33-68 that with birdies Jose Olazabal 35-33-68 from 40 and 20 feet Wayne Levi 35-34-69 on the seventh and Mark Brooks 35-34-69 eighth holes a-Phil Mickelson 37-32-69 Watson 41 Scott Simpson 34-35-69 wouldn't come right out and say it but he feels he can win this week You could see it in his eyes i "It's kind of like putting together a piece of furniture" Watson said "The pieces are there The: glue's a little wet Some of the parts are drying Over: the last three weeks I've felt I could win if I got the glue hardened That pressure is starting to Despite the excellent scoring conditions no one ran: away from the field For Wadkins this was golf as it ought to be He was the first player off the tee no one was ahead of him on the course except Sam: Snead and Gene Sarazen the honorary Masters starters and he and playing partner Jodie Mudd completed their round in just three hours and 25 minutes Wadkins one of the tour's quickest players completed the first nine holes in less than 90 minutes: Wadkins birdied three of the first five holes and then after bogeys on the eighth and llth he reeled off birdies at the 12th 14th 15th and 17th Wadkins nearly pitched in for birdie on the 18th Wadkins says he learned to play fast as a youngster in Richmond Va sometimes playing 27 holes before lunch and then going back for 18 more in See MASTERS page 3C 1 1 1 I' 1 d4 -A 4 7 I r'''' '111 :7 A' 4' 1 Neis it I' ''1' 7 S'S 14 'kk' '1' vtl t1 1 11 lt 4 TZ it i' er 'I Ct-' Iff 5f -'4'-'i i t7--- "r' i il I I zy '42 ii ri I 1 I 9 -I -'kI 44' AUGUSTA Ga Here we go again this time among the palatial pines and dazzling dogwoods of the emerald paradise known as Augusta National The telling of the Fred Couples story Generally there are two tales about Couples during or after any major golf tournament They contain the same words Before or during competition when there's still speculation about the winner you hear "Why Not Fred?" Meaning there are very good reasons for believing that sooner or later Couples will break through and win So why not now? Then there's the tournament wrap-up on Couples the familiar "Why Not Fred?" Couples is a golfer caught between a bantamweight ego and heavyweight ability He has a swing most pros would kill for he makes it look so easy A silky takeway an easy-does-it swing through the ball with tremendous thrust and the lovely unhurried follow-through that puts the club head somewhere below his left shoulder blade But for all his gifts the 31-year-old winner of over $2 million has won only four times in 10 years on the PGA pro tour He has garnered almost as much fame for failures as success At the 1988 Phoenix Open Couples hit a huge hook off the tee of the 72nd hole to fall into a playoff with Sandy Lyle Then in sudden death he hit the same shot on the same hole to lose At the 1989 Ryder Cup where the United States tied Europe and failed to regain the cup Couples came to the final hole of his match with lightly regarded Christy O'Conner Jr tied After O'Connor put his 2- iron approach to within five feet Couples missed with a 9-iron and bogeyed the hole to lose the match At the 1990 PGA Championship Couples was leading by one shot with six holes to go only to make four consecutive bogeys and lose to Wayne Grady "I need to be a little more of a clutch player" Couples said They also say Couples needs to cultivate a little cockiness a little arrogance a little killer streak He seems embarrassed when his talents of seemingly effortless power and velvet touch are mentioned He leaves the impression he's just out there imperturbably whistling the 59th Street Bridge song Hey slow down you're moving too fast Got to make the morning last Fee lin' groovy Thursday was another such walk in the park for Couples as he sauntered to a fourunder-par 68 to open the Masters He made it look like a piece of cake Smelling the flowers catching some rays girl-watching along the way Such placid demeanor on the course has prompted the charge of underachievement Tom Weiskopf said in a national golf publi- cation that Couples "has great talent but no goals in life Not one" Couples' reaction to Weiskopf's assessment is uncharacteristic anger "To say I'm not a very good player or that at the PGA I choked or that at Phoenix I choked that's fine" he said "But to try to read my mind without ever having talked to me and say I have no goals not one that's stupid" Couples does have at least one goal A big one To win the Masters "I love this place" he said Thursday "I love the course It is a great week I have always dreamed of winning this tournament more than any other" He was in the hunt in '89 here just four off the lead on Sunday afternoon with birdies on seven of nine holes But by the time the gallery hustled over to 15 to pick him up the fire had died on consecutive bogeys He finished llth This is his best beginning in the Masters But he isn't excited yet Nor are his fans Because he knows and they know that no one in pro golf can achieve and under achieve in the same tournament as smoothly as Why Not Fred The Associated Press celebrates a birdie at No 16 Jim Gallagher Jr Inside They're off: Mudcats open BO emstein's beating on 300 mph Durham's pitchers combine for shutout 111 Baseball 2C Rickey Henderson fails again to tie Lou Brock as baseball's all-time stolen-base leader and leaves the game with a cramp G-Braves' Upshaw Carolina By GERALD MARTIN Staff writer From staff reports Baseball 3C The Cincinnati Reds fall out of first in the NL West for the first time in over a year OW a ''-f I'- 7g It (1 0 I tliht 'i- hso kr" t- v' ft 1 ik 4 1 oe-: sn- 1': n)-" 1 Golf 3C Lanny Wadkins got to start the Masters where he would like to finish it out front DURHAM The Durham Bulls opened the curtain on their 1991 season with all the traditional trappings The local band played the familiar tunes The players lined the foul lines for pregame introductions And a touch of patriotism was tossed in when Lt Craig Mix a NC National Guardsman back from Operation Desert Storm threw out the first pitch It was anything but typical however from the turnaway crowd to the performance turned in by Bulls pitchers Matt Murray and Scott Taylor who struck out 12 and walked none in a combined five-hitter as the Bulls topped the Frederick Keys 4-0 Ticket windows were closed at 7:30 pm with some fans still waiting in line The 52-year-old park was bursting at the seams with fans wedged into every available bit of grass behind the outfield fences in what was an Opening Day record crowd announced as 6234 Tradition continued in that respect as well Jim Goodmon whose purchase of the team from Miles Wolff needs only to be approved by the Carolina League to be official followed a tradition that Wolff has adhered to as the popularity of the team has risen in recent years keeping a 45-year-old attendance record intact Official turnstile counts aren't kept at minor-league games and the Bulls have had Crowds estimated in the 7000 range But Wolff He's in the business of getting gone in a hurry and once in a blue moon when all does not go as planned he has even seen his life flash before his eyes "But knock on wood" Kenny Bernstein said the other day as he thumped the real thing in a Raleigh restaurant "I've never been hurt We've bummed 'em up pretty good but I've been lucky" That's amazing considering his line of work Think about this for about five seconds and you'll get the picture Here's a fellow who makes a whale of a living driving or aiming something that vaguely resembles a motor vehicle at speeds approaching 300 mph and he does it over and over again going from one end See BERNSTEIN page 3C GREENVILLE SC Lee Upshaw allowed one hit in seven innings as the Greenville Braves nipped the Carolina Mudcats 1-0 Thursday night in a Southern League game at Municipal Stadium The Braves victory spoiled the Mudcats debut as a Triangle-based team The Mudcats a Pirates affiliate played in Columbus Ga last season A Greenville-record of 11781 watched the game breaking the old record of 10489 set in 1989 After a shaky first inning Upshaw 1-0 retired the last 21 batters he faced 11 on ground-outs and six on strikeouts Napoleon Robinson pitched the eighth inning and Mark Woehlers finished with a perfect ninth for the save Greenville scored its only run in the bottom of the first inning After Sean Ross struck out to open the frame Rich Casarotti tripled off the right-field wall Boi Rodriguez then singled in Casarotti but was erased as he tried the stretch the hit into a double Carolina starter Lee Hancock 0-1 was the loser He went 6 innings and struck out four The series resumes today at 7:15 pm Paul Miller will pitch for Carolina while Greenville will counter with Judd Johnson Football 5C The Skyhawks' Bobby McAllister knows how to have fun start Staff photo by Jim Sounds Durham's Tim Gillis right is safe at second under Manny Alexander's tag Tennis 5C North Carolina easily defeats arch-rival Duke has refused to surpass the DAP record of 6237 that attended a game between Raleigh and Durham on Sept 2 1946 "I had heard that they did that" Goodmon said "I like the thought as well" So Goodmon deferred the attendance count ScoreboardRadio-IV AC Local Score line: 829-4848 Dial Sports: (900) 258-6566 See BULLS page 2C -s I.