Saturday, June 08, 2002
Daniel leads LPGA major
Senior PGA leader Levi up by 1
The Associated Press
WILMINGTON, Del. — Beth Daniel kept getting signals that the second round of the LPGA Championship was going to be brutal.
When she arrived at DuPont Country Club, only two players among Friday's early starters — Karrie Webb and Carin Koch — were under par. Then, the leaderboards kept showing Daniel's score at 3 over par for the round.
“I never even sniffed 3 over,” she said. “I said, "Maybe this is an omen that I'm about to make two straight bogeys.' ”
At the end of a long, grueling day when 21 players couldn't even break 80, Daniel topped a short list of survivors by posting a 1-under 70, giving her a two-stroke lead over Webb heading into the weekend.
“It's going to be a battle,” Daniel said. “It's one of the first times I have played this golf course where I think par is my friend. That's sort of what you feel like at a U.S. Open.”
Daniel, the only player to break par in both rounds at punishing DuPont Country Club, was at 137 and had the 36-hole lead at a major championship for the first time in 10 years.
Webb had a 71 and was at 139, while the only other players under par were Koch (73) and Se Ri Pak (70), who were at 141.
Blame that on a combination of fast, firm greens and rough so thick that a familiar refrain after errant drives was, “Has anyone seen a ball around here?”
“I did a real good job keeping it around par,” Daniel said. “Today was the round that could have easily gotten away from me.”
Annika Sorenstam, bidding for the second leg of the Grand Slam, took a serious blow when she let the unpredictable greens get under her skin. Sorenstam wound up with a 5-over 76 and was nine strokes back heading into a weekend that figures only to get harder.
SENIOR PGA: Wayne Levi's Senior PGA Tour bio says he isn't obsessed with winning major championships. That could change in the very near future.
Levi had an up-and-down round that included six birdies and four bogeys, but his 68 Friday gave him a one-stroke lead through two rounds of the Senior PGA Championship.
“I'm out here to win golf tournaments,” the 50-year-old Levi said. “I was fairly successful on the regular tour. I won 12 times. There's not many guys currently playing who have won as much as I have. When it comes down to it, winning is what it's all about. You come out here to win.”
Levi, the 1990 PGA Tour player of the year with four wins, has never finished in the top 10 in a major championship. That could all change in the season's second major title for seniors.
Levi got as low as 4 under and as high as even par but birdied 17 to get to 3-under 137.
Levi, competing in the tournament for the first time, had a 36-hole total that was the highest to lead the tournament through two rounds since 1990.
“There's a lot of tough holes out there,” Levi said. “You've got to keep at it. And once in a while you're going to get in that high rough and you have to hack it out and just do the best you can.”
Larry Nelson, Larry Ziegler and Walter Hall also shot 68s and were at 138.
They were the only players under par through 36 holes on the 6,927-yard Firestone Country Club layout.
“It feels more like the U.S. Open,” said Nelson. He ought to know, since he won the 1983 Open at Oakmont to go with two PGA Championships.
On a day made for scoring — sunny and calm with the greens still wet from heavy rains on the eve of the tournament — just 13 of the 140 players broke par.
“Today is a great example of a perfect weather day to play, yet the scores are not low,” said Hall, a former sales manager of major appliances who quit to hone his game for the senior tour. “The course will not allow it.”
“I think it's the hardest, fairest golf course I've ever played,” Ziegler said.
Jim Thorpe, winner of the year's first major, The Countrywide Tradition, led a group of five at even-par 140.
BUICK CLASSIC: Loren Roberts, who failed to qualify for next week's U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park, shot a 3-under 68 to take a one-stroke lead over David Gossett during the suspended second round at Harrison, N.Y.
ENGLISH OPEN: Darren Clarke kept a share of the second-round lead at Meriden, England, but criticized officials for keeping players on the Forest of Arden course during an hour-long rain delay.
The Northern Irishman completed a 2-under-par 70 to finish the day deadlocked at 9 under par with David Drysdale of Scotland, who had a 67. Phillip Price of Wales was one shot back after a second successive 68.
Heavy rain through the middle of the day left several greens and fairways under water and forced the suspension with Clarke on the 10th fairway. But instead of calling the players in, officials told them to remain on the course ready to resume as soon as the water in flooded areas was cleared.
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Daniel leads LPGA major
