Steve Pate

Under the swaying chandeliers of the ultra-lavish La Costa Country Club's clubhouse--a clubhouse that has more expensive restaurants than many cities in this country--the search was on for golfer Steve Pate, an entrant in the PGA's exclusive Tournament of Champions. A security guard stationed outside the players' locker room was asked if perhaps Pate recently had passed by. "No, sir," he replied. "Haven't seen him." He was then asked if he actually knew what Pate looked like.

You know how it goes with golf tournaments: You win some, you lose some and some get shortened to 54 holes. On a rainy, windy Sunday, the MONY Tournament of Champions went through three delays because of rain and another because of hail before the final round was officially called off. That meant Steve Pate won it, Larry Nelson lost it and Dennis Conner should have navigated it.

Only twice in 47 PGA Tour events last year did anyone lead from the first round to the finish. So, Steve Pate, how do you like those odds? "I don't pay any attention to that at all," said Pate, the first-, second- and third-round leader of the MONY Tournament of Champions at La Costa. "I'm not too concerned about that kind of statistic." Then here's another statistic: $90,000. Someone will concern himself with that today when he wins.

Early in his round, Steve Pate walked down the fairway and glanced up at the Tournament of Champions' leader board. As with just about everyone else, the task was simple. He came, he saw, he birdied. "It seemed like everyone was under par," Pate said. Well, not everyone. Only half the field. It was warm, the greens were fast and the scores were low Thursday in the first round of the $500,000 Tournament of Champions at La Costa.

The sudden emergence of Steve Pate on the leader board of the Atlanta Golf tournament last week came as a surprise to most followers of the golf tour, but not to those who knew him at the La Cumbre Country Club in Santa Barbara or at UCLA where he was an All- America selection in 1983. Pate, 24, in his first year on the tour, lost Sunday to Wayne Levi on the second hole of a playoff. In 13 previous professional starts, Pate had done no better than a tie for 53rd at Doral.

Former UCLA All-American Steve Pate put together the two best rounds of his six-month pro career to take a one-stroke lead Friday at the midway point of the $500,000 Georgia-Pacific tournament at Atlanta. Pate, who has finished no better than tied for 53rd in 13 previous PGA Tour appearances, backed up an opening-round 67 with a six-under-par 66 in the second round for an 11-under 133. His nearest rival, sometime race car driver Danny Edwards, shot a 65 for a 36-hole total of 134.