Golf
Clark holds one-stroke lead in rain-soaked Colonial FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Tim Clark had the perfect remedy to overcome a stiff neck and an extended day of golf:anti-inflammatory medicine and a steady dose of fairways and greens.
Clark had to play the back nine of his opening round Friday, then got only a brief break before a bogey-free 6-under 64 in a second round in which he didn’t miss a fairway or a green.
“It certainly makes it easier to get around,” said Clark, who at 11 under had a one-stroke lead over Arron Oberholser (66) in the rain-soaked Colonial.
“This could be my last week for a while. I’m going to take some time off to heal up. I want to end on a good note.”
The South African was among 57 players – exactly half the 114-player Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial field – who had to finish their first rounds Friday morning and then go right back out for 18 more holes.
The 36-hole cut, projected to be under par for the first time in the 61 years at Colonial, won’t be made until the second round is completed Saturday morning.
There were 27 players still on the course when play was suspended Friday because of darkness.
Ben Curtis (67), Jim Furyk (66) and Nathan Green (66) were in at 9-under 131, with Alex Cejka (65), Kevin Na (69) and first-round leader Anthony Kim (69) at 8 under.
Clark’s 11-under 129 total was only one shot off the 36-hole tournament record held by Kenny Perry, who opened with rounds of 65 and 63 on way to winning his second Colonial title in 2005.
The first-round scoring average of 69.342 was the lowest at the Colonial in the 25 years since the PGA Tour starting keeping such statistics.
Senior PGA Championship
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Eduardo Romero took the sting out of The Ocean Course for a second straight day, grabbing a two-stroke lead at the Senior PGA Championship.
Romero, the first-round leader after a 4-under 68 in strong wind, shot a 70 in calmer conditions Friday to move to 6 under.
And the Argentine star has dealt with few of the problems many others in the 50-and-over field have had over Pete Dye’s seaside layout.
Maybe it was Romero’s caution and concern that kept him trouble free so far.
“I told my caddie, ‘We have to be very careful because double bogey and triple bogey are waiting for us,”‘ Romero said.
Instead, Romero used some big, accurate drives – he said his tee shot went about 380 yards on the par-5 seventh – to keep out front.
Naomichi “Joe” Ozaki (71) remained second at 4 under.
Nick Price, who won PGA Championships in 1992 and 1994, was next at 3 under after a 70.
LPGA Corning Classic
CORNING, N.Y. – Beth Bader, undeterred by a weather delay that created gusting wind midway through her round, shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-shot lead over Young Kim after two rounds at the LPGA Corning Classic.
Bader finished at 13-under 131 to tie the 36-hole tournament record set three years ago by Michelle Estil. Kim shot a 64.
Paula Creamer (68) was third at 10 under, one shot ahead of Mi Hyun Kim (67) and Becky Morgan (66). Natalie Gulbis (67), Jamie Hullett (70), Diana D’Alessio (69), In-Kyung Kim (69), and Jean Bartholomew (68) were 8 under, and first-round leader Charlotta Sorenstam (73), Japan’s Ai Miyazato (69), and Alena Sharp (63) were among seven players at 7 under.
NCAA Women
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Duke won its third straight NCAA women’s golf title, and Arkansas’ Stacy Lewis rallied to take the individual championship.
Duke easily held off Purdue for its fifth team title in nine years, shooting a 2-over 290 to finish with an 18-over 1,170 total on LPGA International’s Legends Course.
Purdue finished at 33 over, a stroke ahead of third-place UCLA.
Lewis, six strokes behind Purdue’s Christel Boeljon after a third-round 74, shot a 6-under 66 – the best round of the tournament – to beat Boeljon (76) and Southern California’s Paola Moreno (71) by four strokes.
Lewis, a junior from The Woodlands, Texas, birdied the first five holes on the back nine. She finished at 6-under 282.
BMW PGA Championship
VIRGINIA WATER, England – England’s Justin Rose birdied the last three holes for a 2-under 70 and a share of the second-round lead in the BMW PGA Championship with 2005 winner Angel Cabrera.
Cabrera, from Argentina, eagled the first hole and added four birdies in a bogey-free 66 to join Rose at 8-under 136 on Wentworth’s historic West Course.
England’s Ross Fisher (67) and Australia’s Marcus Fraser (70) were a stroke back.