LIETZKE TAKES RIGHT APPROACH; HE AND MCCARRON WIN SHOOTOUT.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Daily News Staff Writer

Maybe Bruce Lietzke is on to something.

The PGA Tour's most-occasional player proved again Sunday it doesn't necessarily take practice to make near-perfect, combining with Scott McCarron for a second straight 13-under-par 59 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks.

It was enough for a 30-under total of 186 and first place in the ninth Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout - to say nothing of another ringing endorsement for taking life and work in stride.

Lietzke isn't big on practice or even all that taken by his career - certainly not to the point where he lets it intrude on his time with family, fishing or his interest in auto racing.

But there he was again in the winner's circle, at age 46, after he and McCarron held off charges first by Peter Jacobsen and John Cook, then David Duval and Scott Hoch in the closing scramble format to win this ninth annual two-man team-play event.

``We both did our jobs,'' said the good-natured Lietzke after he and equally easy-going McCarron combined to ram home 11 birdies and an eagle in their second consecutive bogey-free round.

They needed all of their skills to hold off the Duval/Hoch entry, which started the day three strokes off the pace, then totaled 11 birdies and two eagles to build a two-stroke lead before fading with a par-bogey finish that left them 58 and 188.

First-round leaders Jacobsen and Cook (62-191) also pressed the winners, opening Sunday's play two strokes off the pace and staying that close after 11 holes before Lietzke and McCarron pulled away at the end.

The victory, worth $150,000 to each of the winners, was largely a result of Lietzke hitting fairways, freeing long-hitting UCLA alumnus McCarron to bomb away - which he did with consistent accuracy.

``That's the strategy we dreamed about,'' Lietzke said. ``The matchup was perfect and it worked out.''

Jacobsen had said Saturday that his biggest concern was that he wanted to win too much. In pursuit of that, the former Oregon Duck was pounding practice balls in the rain two hours after second-round play concluded.

Lietzke, typically, took the opposite approach, limiting his between-round practice to a few warm-up swings Sunday morning. He never practices much, and it never seems to hurt his game.

Perhaps no player on the PGA Tour has been as successful with such a casual approach to the game as Lietzke, who has earned $5.8 million and won 13 times over his 23-year professional career despite playing and practicing far less than his money-winning peers.

Spending time with his family is the No. 1 priority for Lietzke, who nonetheless made the cut in seven of the nine events he entered this year. He opened with back-to-back rounds in the 60s at the Las Vegas Invitational last month after a 20-week layoff that included no practice - and he's still using the same swing he brought on tour in 1974.

Lietzke's secret? He believes muscle memory not only works but can reward you - as long as you don't confuse the memory with a lot of experimentation in equipment and mechanics.

``My partner is the only one who has got this game figured out,'' McCarron said. ``He doesn't change anything.''

Fuzzy Zoeller and long-hitting John Daly (who was booming drives out of the practice range Sunday morning) tied for fourth at 192 with Mark Calcavecchia and Andrew Magee.

Brad Faxon and Lee Janzen finished 193 to tie defending champions Tom Kite and Jay Haas for sixth, trailed by Lanny Wadkins and Craig Stadler at 197.

Tournament host Greg Norman failed again to win his own event but dodged last place, teaming with Steve Elkington for a 198 that was a stroke better than the team of Chip Beck and David Frost.

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Photo

PHOTO Bruce Lietzke, left, and partner Scott McCarron pucker up with the winners' trophy after a two-stroke victory.

Associated Press