4 Under Can Do Wonders : Golf: Hoch, Sindelar and Parry weren’t expecting much, but they share first-round lead at Baltusrol.

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. —  Scott Hoch thought that his visit to Baltusrol Golf Club, site of the U.S. Open, would be brief.

“I didn’t feel confident at all,” Hoch said. “And anybody who said they might be coming up here, as far as family and friends, I said: ‘Stay where you are, because I’ll probably be coming home early.’ ”

Not so fast, Scott.

Hoch shot a 66 Thursday, four under par, a score that was matched by Joey Sindelar and Australia’s Craig Parry for the first-round lead.

And there are some prestigious players in contention behind them.

Lee Janzen and Craig Stadler had 67s. Fred Couples, Raymond Floyd, Corey Pavin, Bob Wrenn, Rocco Mediate, Blaine McCallister and Mike Smith are at 68.

Tom Kite, the defending champion, had a five-over 75, one stroke better than 16-year-old Ted Oh, a sophomore at Torrance High.

Hoch, 37, is remembered for losing the 1989 Masters championship to England’s Nick Faldo in a playoff. Hoch missed a 2 1/2-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole that would have given him the victory.

Faldo then went on to win the first of his consecutive Masters titles on the next hole.

Hoch had surgery on his left shoulder a year ago February, and he said the recovery period was a nightmare.

“It was a tough year for me,” he said. “I felt I was playing much better, but nothing was happening. I think it was a matter of learning how to play again. This year is the same thing. In the beginning, you can hit it as good as you want, but you can’t score.

“I’ve had some decent tournaments this year, but nothing to make anybody worry coming into this tournament. I didn’t hear my name mentioned among the favorites and there was a reason for it, because the last couple of weeks I’ve played terrible.”

So there wasn’t any indication that Hoch would even be on the leader board here, let alone sharing the lead after the first round.

“I’m not one that goes out and beats balls,” he said. “I figured once the tournament gets here, if you haven’t got it, you ain’t going to get it.”

So much for golf logic.

Hoch was two under through 16 holes and said: “I had a Band-Aid on my swing all day and it was holding up. With about four, or five holes to go, I was thinking two under would be good, just walk in right now.”

But better things were in store for Hoch, who has four tour victories in his 12-year career--birdies on the par-five finishing holes.

He hit an eight-iron 12 feet past the cup on the 630-yard 17th and made his birdie putt. Then he dropped another 12-footer for a birdie on the 542-yard 18th.

“My round today I compare to a duck,” Hoch said. “On the surface he looks fine, no problems at all, but underneath, he’s paddling like heck just to keep up.”

Like Hoch, Sindelar said there was no indication that he would play as well as he did Thursday.

Sindelar could only par the two long finishing holes, but he was more than satisfied.

“I probably should have shot a 70, or 69,” he said. “I got away with a lot of things.”

Sindelar, 35, who has four victories in his eight years on the tour, said he was in a “neutral zone” most of the warm day with the temperature in the 80s.

Sindelar said he was nervous on the 18th tee and his hands were sweating because he had a long wait.

Parry, 27, who stands only 5 feet 6 but is nicknamed “Popeye” because of his arm strength, has been in contention in other U.S. major events.

However, like Hoch and Sindelar, he didn’t have great expectations here because he had missed two previous cuts.

“I concentrate better in major tournaments,” Parry said. “This is an old-style course and you can run the ball into the greens, an option you usually don’t have on American courses.”

Stadler, the 1982 Masters champion from USC, said he was consistent with his 67, missing only two greens.

“Tee to green, I’ve been very satisfied with my game,” Stadler said. “I’ve been getting 10 to 15 feet from the hole and putting miserably. Today was a perfect example.”

A 67 while putting poorly? Not a bad day’s work.

Golf Notes

Fred Couples, the 1992 Masters champion, didn’t get to Baltusrol as early as many of the players because he was tired. Some of the players have been here since last week. “I felt if I got here and played Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I’d kill myself,” he said. “So I practiced about an hour on Tuesday, but not here, and had a good practice round (Wednesday).” . . . Corey Pavin, the former UCLA player, said that he would love to win a major championship, adding, “But my life doesn’t revolve around winning one.”

To prepare himself for his 7:10 a.m. tee time, Scott Hoch played a practice round even earlier on Wednesday. . . . Mike Hulbert made a hole in one on the 198-yard 12th hole. He used a five-iron. Hulbert shot a 71. . . . U.S. Amateur champion Justin Leonard had a one-under-par 69, beating his playing partners, Nick Faldo (70) and Tom Kite (75).