GOLF ROUNDUP : Archer Wins Senior Open by Storm

George Archer won the Ameritech Senior Open at Aurora, Ill., on Sunday when the final round was canceled because of lightning and rain.

The leaders reached the fifth hole when play was suspended because of lightning. An attempt was made to resume play after a delay of 1 hour 20 minutes, but play was suspended again before the golfers could hit a shot, and the round was abandoned.

During the first delay, there were a reported 85 lightning strikes within a 15-mile radius of the Stonebridge Country Club. An hour later, the course was hit by a severe rainstorm.

With third-round play eliminated, the scores reverted to the end of Saturday’s round that found Archer leading the field by two strokes with an 11-under-par 133.

Tied for second at 135 were Jim Colbert, Simon Hobday and Dick Rhyan. At 136 were first-round leader Jim Albus, Bob Charles, Rocky Thompson and Walter Zembriski.

It was Archer’s first victory of the year and 12th on the senior tour.

*

Hiromi Kobayashi of Japan shot a two-under-par 69 to win the $600,000 JAL Big Apple Classic at New Rochelle, N.Y., for her first victory on the LPGA Tour.

She finished with a 72-hole total of 278, four strokes ahead of Rosie Jones and five ahead of Betsy King, whose game collapsed over the final round.

King, the Big Apple winner in 1990 and 1991, entered the day as the one-stroke leader over Kobayashi, but shot a 75 for 283.