Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-06-14
81 SHARES TOURNEY LEAD
Armies on Beam Again

HARRISON, N. T., June IA
(AP).-Arnold Palmer is hot
again and that's unsettling
news for his rivals.
ut wasn't work as It has
been recently-it was fun again
for a change" the perfectly re-
Taxed three-time Masters cham
pion said after posting q
3-under-par 81 yesterday for q
share Of the first-round lead in
the 100000 Thunderbird
Classic.
Tied with Palmer going into
today's second round Is Jack
Rule, 24-year-old rookie pro
from Waterloo, Iowa. However,
Arnold has a 2-stroke cushion
over his principal rivals, Jack
Nicklaus and Gary Player.
NickIaus' Putter Cold
Nicklaus, his putting touch
cold as q mackerel, and Player,
favored by a lucky ruling, are
punched with a dozen at SO.
Ben Hogan. making q tourna-
ment comeback at the age Of
so, is close with II.
But the question they're ask
ing around the 6,550-yard, par
70 Westchester Country Club
course Is:
who's going to collar the
non?"
Palmer looked like his old
self as he cowed the West
chester layout with his typically
powerful drives and solved the
spacious green's with q conf
dent putting touch.
Misses One Fairway
The 33-year-old pride of
Latrobe, Pa, missed only one
fairway-the 18th-and one
putted eight greens, sinking the
difficult seven and eight
footers with ease.
HE was terrific" Player,
one Of Palmer's playing part
ners, said afterward. HE looked
like the Palmer at his best.
He's still the champ. He hasn't
been in q slump. He just had
a couple Of bad tournaments"
Palmer, beaten by young
Nicklaus in the Masters and
the Tournament Of Champions,
left the tour q month ago after
shooting a 299-his worst per-
Torrance in years - in the
Colonial Invitation at Fort
Worth.
Feels Great Again
II was mentally and physi-
cally beat" Palmer said. THE |
rest was Just what I needed.
I feel great again."
Nicklaus, who defends his |
National Open championship |
next week at Brookline, Mass,
wasn't happy. II putted miser- |
ably" he said. 81 didn't even
miss 'em close"
Players round was featured
by an odd ruling and spec
tacular shot on the 436-yard |
par-4 eighth hole. There his |
second shot landed under q
rock. He was given q free
drop on the imbedded ball rule
and proceeded to chip In from
as feet for q birdie three. He
had two other brides.
10 Break Par
Playing in sunny weather be-
fore gallery of more than
10000. 10 players in the 13S-
man field broke par and eight
others, including Sam Snead
and Dow Finsterwald. equaled
it.
One shot behind Palmer and
Rule are Bill Eggers Of Hender-
son, New, Bob Duden Of Port
land, Greg, and Gay Brewer Of
Dallas, all with 34-34-6S.
Besides Nicklaus and Player,
the SO bracket includes Julius
Boros, hottest player on the
tour for the last five weeks; |
Charlie Sifford, the only Negro |
player; Canadians AL Balding
and Stan Leonard, plus tour
players Moon Mullins, Dick
Hart, Phil Rodgers, Paul Har-
ney. AL Geiberger. Frank Stran- |
ahan. Dan Skies and Art Wall. |
The biggest surprise was
Rule, q crew-cut youngster |
from the University Of Iowa
who has been on the tour little
more than q year. The only
title Of any consequence he
ever has won was the National
Jaycee crown in 1856.
To tie Palmer. he sank two
puts Of 20 feet. one Of Is and
another Of IL feet.
The leaders:
Arnold Palmer ................. 33.3l-61
JACK RULE ...................,... 33-34-67l
S SoS b brewer ''.''.'.'...,,.'.. 3+3l-ssI