
DATE: Sunday, July 13, 1997                 TAG: 9707130197

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   93 lines

MCKNIGHT UP BY 6 AT EASTERN AM AFTER A 64

The competition at the Eastern Amateur golf tournament received a McKnight kiss goodbye Saturday.

Tom McKnight, gunning for a third Eastern Amateur title and what would probably be a resulting berth on the United States Walker Cup team, pulled the trigger on an amazing 10-stroke swing with 36-hole leader Joey Maxon at Elizabeth Manor. Maxon began the day with a four-stroke lead, but shot 74 and was blown away by the 42-year-old McKnight's 6-under-par 64.

At 9-under 201, McKnight has a six-shot bulge on both Maxon and hard-charging John Rollins. Those three tee off today at 12:30.

McKnight, winner of three Virginia State Amateurs, won the Eastern in 1993 and '95 and finished second in a playoff to Jason Bruha last summer. Deane Beman holds the record with four Eastern titles; a win today would move McKnight out of a tie with other two-time winners Steve Liebler, Vance Heafner, Ben Crenshaw and Ward Wettlaufer and make him the only player in the tournament's 41-year history with three.

``Man, this is fun,'' McKnight exclaimed when asked how a player with his credentials stays motivated. ``You're out here with good guys, on a beautiful golf course, in great weather. I thank God for being healthy and having the opportunity to still be playing.''

They are the only three players still under par. North Carolina's Donald Hill stands even at 210. Suffolk's J.P. Leigh and Chesapeake's Curtis Deal are the low locals, at 213, along with Old Dominion player Troy Thorne.

``I wasn't worried about anyone else today; the tournament was only half over,'' McKnight said. ``I can't be concerned about anyone else until the last couple of holes of the tournament. I'm going to play the same way tomorrow. If I play a good round and someone shoots the lights out to beat me, I won't be happy, but it'll be OK.''

Rollins, two-time defending State Amateur champion, might as well have been speaking for the rest of the field when he looked at McKnight's position atop the leaderboard and shook his head.

``He's tough; doesn't give you any room to wear him down,'' Rollins said. ``You play with him and he's got birdie putt after birdie putt after birdie putt. He just doesn't make mistakes.''

Well, he didn't make many Saturday. He canned a 15-foot birdie putt on the first hole to trim his deficit to three. Seconds later, it would be two when Maxon, paired with McKnight, bogeyed the first hole.

On the par-4 fifth, McKnight's 9-iron approach settled 12 feet from the hole and he made that birdie. On the par-3 ninth, McKnight nailed a 15-footer for the birdie that brought him even with Maxon. Again, seconds later Maxon made bogey and McKnight had the lead to himself.

Maxon climbed back even with a birdie-3 on No. 10, then began giving ground rapidly with bogeys at 11, 15, 16 and 18.

``I just hit it terrible; I drove it everywhere,'' Maxon said. ``Tomorrow, I'm not even going to carry a driver. I've given it enough chances. Every bogey I made came off my driver.

``I have to regroup. I've got to play a different type of strategy; I've been playing defense the last two days. You can't do that.''

McKnight, meanwhile, just kept churning, though not without some luck. He hit a sand-wedge approach to the apron of the 12th green, 25 feet from the hole - but ran in the putt for his first birdie on the back side.

Two holes later, another indifferent approach left him 25 feet right of the hole. Again, he dropped the birdie putt in the heart of the hole.

Finally, on the 537-yard par-5 18th, McKnight played it smart, hitting a driver and 5-iron to about 75 yards from the green. A smart sand-wedge stopped three feet from the hole, enabling him to close with an easy birdie.

``It would have been a stupid shot to go for it, because the best you can do is get it to about 30 feet of the hole; you can't get it close,'' McKnight said. ``I can stand in the middle of the fairway, 75 yards from the green, with a sand wedge and feel real good about my chances. You're crazy to want to knock it on, but you're still tempted. That little voice on my shoulder said, `Don't.' ''

Rollins, who played four groups ahead of McKnight and Maxon, moved into contention by firing a 4-under 66 Saturday. After making the turn in even-par 35, Rollins made birdie putts of six, three, and 10 inches. He capped off his round by making a two-putt birdie at 18 after hitting a 5-iron 230 yards to 20 feet of the cup.

``I liked where I was at the beginning of the day,'' Rollins said. ``There was no one following me, no one interested in what I was doing. I could quietly work my way up the board.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

TING-LI WANG/The Virginian-Pilot

Tom McKnight lines up today's chances: ``If I play a good round and

someone shoots the lights out to beat me, I won't be happy, but

it'll be OK.''

Photos

TING-LI WANG/The Virginian-Pilot

Joey Maxon, who lost his lead, said, ``I just hit it terrible; I

drove it everywhere. I have to regroup. I've got to play a different

type of strategy.''

Jason Gorman contemplates a putt, hopefully using his hands and not

his mouth, during Saturday's Eastern Amateur action.