Golfers battle elements in Carolina
WILMINGTON, N.C. — Once the rain finally stopped, the wind took over Friday at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Billy Hurley III and Seamus Power of Ireland did their best to figure out the strong gusts and wound up atop the leaderboard at the end of a long day. The second round started three hours late because of a violent storm that dumped nearly two inches of rain at Eagle Point Golf club, and 65 players were unable to complete the second round.
Hurley hit a 4-iron from 174 yards that came up 15 yards short, and he managed to get up and down to cap off a strong finish for a 3-under-par 69. Power shot a 71 and joined Hurley at 5-under 139 after 36 holes.
“It was more difficult with the wind,” Hurley said. “Thankfully, with the rain it was softer. It we didn’t have this rain, and then we had this wind, it would have been pretty brutal. So we didn’t have to completely worry about the ball running away from you on the ground as much as it did yesterday.”
John Peterson’s last hole was a birdie on the par-5 12th hole. He was at 5 under and had six holes to play. Francesco Molinari, who opened with a 66, also was at 5 under and had seven holes remaining.
Dustin Johnson couldn’t get off the golf course fast enough.
In his first tournament since a slip down the stairs knocked him out of the Masters, Johnson opened the second round with a tough par save and a birdie to get within two shots of the lead until dropping shots on a pair of par 3s, getting out of position off the tee on the reachable par 5s and ending with a third bogey on No. 13. He was 2 over for his round, five shots out of the lead.
With the worst of the weather out of the way, one bizarre dynamic was in play depending on how the second round finishes this morning. When play was halted by darkness, 80 players were at 1 over (either finished or on their back nine).
That could mean only a six-shot separation between leading and making the cut on the number, meaning a wide-open weekend.
Lehman’s 64 leads
THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Tom Lehman shot an 8-under 64 to take the first-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ Insperity Invitational.
Jay Haas and Kirk Triplett were tied for second after each shot a 67 on the
Little sister wins
Tournament Course at The Woodland Country Club. Mark Brooks, Russ Cochran, John Daly and Paul Goydos were another shot back, and Schwab Cup points leader Bernhard Langer was among five players at 69.
Coming off arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, the 58-year-old Lehman won the Tucson Conquistadores Classic in March for his 10th victory of the 50-and-older tour.
On a sunny day with a steady wind hovering around 15 mph, Lehman hit 12 of 14 fairways on the 7,002-yard layout and reached 14 greens in regulation. He needed just 24 putts and had six birdies on the back nine, including the last four holes, for his lowest round of the year.
MEXICO CITY — Ariya Jutanugarn won a sister showdown in the second round of the Lorena Ochoa Match Play tournament, and Cristie Kerr, Lydia Ko and Michelle Wie also advanced at Club de Golf Mexico.
The third-ranked Jutanugarn edged older sister Moriya 2 up, never trailing.
“Today we had fun because we are sisters — and we always have fun,” Ariya said. “She plays so good. I can’t believe I beat her today, because she’s so good.”
Sixteen golfers remain as the LPGA Tour’s first match-play event since 2012 moves on to today’s third round and quarterfinals.
Ko beat Jennifer Song 1 up to guarantee she will remain No. 1 in the world, while Wie topped Laura Gonzalez Escallon 3 and 2, and Kerr defeated Jenny Shin 4 and 3. Kerr won three weeks ago in Hawaii and lost to Haru Nomura this past Sunday on the sixth hole of a playoff in Texas.