GOLF ROUNDUP : Huston Starts Fast, Mize Finishes Faster for 64

Larry Mize, spurred by the early play of partner John Huston, shot an eight-under-par 64 Thursday to lead the Buick Open by two strokes.

Huston birdied the first five holes and finished the first round with a 66. Payne Stewart and rookie Paul Goydos also were at six-under in the final tuneup for next week’s PGA Championship at Inverness in nearby Toledo, Ohio.

Huston, in an early morning threesome with Larry Mize and Rocco Mediate, began as if he could do no wrong at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc, Mich.

“He had a tough start, didn’t he?” said Mize, who had eight birdies in a bogey-free round. “It’s not hard to notice when a guy birdies the first five holes, especially with Rocco giving him a hard time.

“They can feed off one another, even though they didn’t know what they were doing.”

Mediate settled for a 71, leaving him in a logjam with several players, including Ben Crenshaw and Craig Stadler.

Mize, who won the Northern Telcom Open at Tucson, Ariz., in January, said he hoped a strong showing this week would help him earn another berth on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

“I need to do what I did today and take care of business,” Mize said, knowing Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson is in the Buick Open. “It would be an honor and a big thrill.”

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Dana Lofland-Dormann, playing on a day when nothing seemed to go wrong, shot 63 to take the first round lead in the McCall’s LPGA Classic at Stratton Mountain, Vt.

The third-year pro, who had one victory last year and a third-place best this season, blistered the 6,077-yard, par-72 Stratton Mountain Country Club course for nine birdies and almost capped it with an eagle on the last hole.

“I was very lucky,” Lofland Dormann said. “Everytime I did something stupid, it just worked out. I’d mis-hit shots and wind up next to the hole.”

Lofland-Dormann took a four-stroke lead over Cindy Figg-Currier and Laurie Rinker-Graham and a six-shot edge over Nancy Harvey and Nancy Ramsbottom.

dupe to downtown please

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Kellee Booth of Coto de Caza won two matches to advance to the semifinals of the USGA Girls’ Junior Championship at Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa.

Booth, 17, beat Keridwen Cornelius of Scottsdale, Ariz., 2 and 1 and Jody Niemann of Rigby, Ida., 2-up.