O’Meara: 10 Birdies in 11 Holes

Mark O’Meara made birdie after birdie. Eight of them in succession and 10 in 11 holes. Nothing could stop him on the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland--except the notorious Road Hole.

“That hole has gotten me quite a few times, although it’s never gotten me severely,” O’Meara said Thursday after shooting a 63 in the Dunhill Cup to miss the Old Course record by a stroke.

“This golf course can jump up and bite you and it got up and did that at the 17th,” O’Meara said after making a double-bogey six from off the sand and gravel road that runs along the right side of the hole.

“I feel pleased but also let down because I had a very reasonable chance of tying the course record, or breaking it.”

Only Curtis Strange has shot a 62 on the Old Course, posting the 10-under-par in the 1987 Dunhill Cup. But until O’Meara’s performance, no one had made eight consecutive birdies at St. Andrews and only three players--Bob Goalby, Fuzzy Zoeller and Dewey Arnette--had made eight in a row in a PGA Tour event.

“I knew at the time I made my double bogey I had thrown away my chance of tying Curtis’ record,” O’Meara said. “Believe me, I was thinking about it the whole back side.”

O’Meara defeated Costantino Rocca by seven strokes as the United States downed Italy in the first-round match, 2-1.

Steve Stricker, playing the Old Course for the first time, shot a 68 and beat Silvio Grappasonni by seven, but Phil Mickelson was beaten by Emanuele Canonica on the second extra hole after both had carded par-72s.

Defending champion Scotland was upset by Sweden and Nick Price led Zimbabwe over India.

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John Huston and Mike Heinen shot six-under-par 66s and were tied for the lead after one round of the Texas Open at San Antonio.

Huston, 35th on the money list with $463,717, can qualify for the Tour Championship in two weeks if he makes the top 30. Heinen needs to win a tournament to get another two-year tour exemption.

David Frost and Hugh Royer III were one stroke behind the leaders, while John Morse, Mark Calcavecchia, Kelly Gibson, Mike Hulbert and Woody Austin were at 68.

At 69 were Tiger Woods, who also can make the Tour Championship by finishing among the top 30 money winners; Tray Tyner, Brian Claar and Donnie Hammond--the 1989 Texas Open winner.

Woods, 20, the three-time U.S. Amateur champion who won for the first time as a pro Sunday in the Las Vegas Invitational, started on the back nine and had four birdies. But he double-bogeyed No. 1, a par-five, and played sporadically the rest of the way before missing a birdie putt on the final hole.

Woods is 40th on the money list with $437,194.

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Annika Sorenstam’s blazing back nine gave her a two-stroke lead over Julie Piers after the first round of the inaugural Betsy King LPGA Classic at Kutztown, Pa.

Six birdies on the back nine helped Sorenstam to a 66, six under.

Piers was a stroke ahead of Laura Davies, who is trying to become only the second golfer to top the money list on both the American and European tours. Her 69 gave her a share of third place with Cindy Schreyer.