Friday, March 21, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
SUN WIRE REPORTS
The first round of the Bay Hill Invitational at Orlando, Fla., had a familiar look to it.
Paul Stankowski was ahead, shooting a 5-under-par 67, just like he did last week in taking a share of the first-round lead at the Honda Classic.
Tiger Woods was in the thick of it, as always, with massive crowds following him around the course.
And the King was back.
Two months after prostate cancer surgery, Arnold Palmer was back in his domain, winking and waving, hitching his pants and ripping at the ball in his distinctive, slashing style.
"I felt wonderful out there," Palmer said after an 81.
At 70 was former UNLV golfer Skip Kendall. Las Vegan Robert Gamez shot a 73.
Stankowski, winless on the PGA Tour at this time last year and virtually unheard of, keeps playing his way into the lead.
He is long off the tee, which came in handy Thursday on a Bay Hill Club course that played a little more dangerous because of the thick rough and got a little bit longer when showers fell at the end of the day.
Stankowski overcame his lone bogey at No. 15 by catching a huge break when his 2-iron to the 517-yard 16th hole landed between sand and rocks in a patch of turf no wider than his stance.
He chipped to 3 feet, then finished off his 67 by hitting an 8-iron to within 6 feet for a birdie at No. 18.
"This is one of the best ball-striking rounds I've had," said Stankowski, who led the first two rounds of the Honda before faltering in the 36-hole final day.
Woods can't say the same, which makes him pleased to be only one stroke behind at 68. He was wild off the tee, and struggled at times with his irons, even sending one wedge well left and long of his mark.
But he saved par five times and took advantage of the par 5s.
"I grinded around and got it in the hole somehow," Woods said. "I made some mistakes out there, but I recovered."
Also at 68 are Fred Funk, U.S. Open champion Steve Jones and Billy Andrade, who played at Wake Forest a decade ago on the Arnold Palmer golf scholarship.
Payne Stewart, defending champion Paul Goydos and Ryder Cup captain Tom Kite were among those at 69. Twenty players shot 70, including British Open champion Tom Lehman, Nick Price, Ernie Els and Ian Woosnam.
"It would be a dream come true to have him put that coat around me," Andrade said of the gray jacket that goes to the winner of Palmer's Bay Hill tournament.
* LPGA: At Phoenix, Barb Mucha, playing her first tournament since mid-January, tied the course record with an 8-under-par 65 to take a one-shot lead over Dawn Coe-Jones after the opening round of the LPGA Standard-Register Ping. Mucha skipped the last five events after finishing third in the season-opening Tournament of Champions on Jan. 12 and tying for fifth the following week at Orlando, Fla. "I was in a rut. I just felt I needed a break to get recharged," she said. "I also needed a few changes so I'm now playing spikeless, with a new ball and a new color in my hair. I'm having fun with it so far."
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