Golf Roundup : A Putting Change Helps Rummells Take Lead With 63

Dave Rummells, seeking his first PGA Tour victory, altered his putting style to shoot a seven-under-par 63 Thursday and take the first-round lead in the $500,000 Hardee’s golf tournament at Coal Valley, Ill.

Rummells had eight birdies, six on the front nine, to lead Mark McCumber and Brad Fabel by one stroke.

“When I’m playing well, I like to keep playing fast,” said Rummells, 29, of Orlando, Fla. “And when we got done with nine holes we had a 20-minute wait, and it just took the momentum away from me. I didn’t play very well on the back side.”

“I was looking forward to this all summer,” said the West Branch, Iowa, native who grew up 50 miles west of the Oakwood Country Club. “I wanted to put on a good show for everybody.”

The first-round leader needed only 24 putts, thanks to a tip from his caddie to move his hands up the putter shaft and step closer to the ball.

McCumber, fresh from last week’s victory at Williamsburg, Va., mounted a late challenge to finish at 64. He was joined in the afternoon by Fabel.

Five players--Jeff Sluman, Ray Stewart, D.A. Weibring, Fred Wadsworth and David Hobby--were at 65.

Weibring, the 1979 champion at Coal Valley when the tournament was known as the Quad Cities Open, highlighted his round with a 70-foot birdie putt on the par-4 fourth hole.

Amy Alcott, Cathy Marino and local favorite Sally Quinlan shot five-under-par 67s to share the first-round lead in the $300,000 Boston Five tournament at Ferncroft Country Club in Danvers, Mass.

All three players had 32s on the front nine and 35s on the back nine for a one-stroke lead over Jan Stephenson and Donna White.