The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS - Scott Verplank enjoys his annual trip to New Orleans regardless of how he plays, because it gives him a chance to reminisce about a departed friend.

After shooting a 63 Friday in the second round of the HP Classic, this year's visit to English Turn has a chance to be special for Verplank.

His 16-under 128 gave him a three-stroke lead and a 36-hole tournament record as the par-72, 7,116-yard course continued to yield low scores.

Brian Gay and Todd Barranger, players who have rarely made a cut this season, were tied for second.

Davis Love III and first-round co-leader Akio Sadakata, who shot a front-nine 29 Thursday, were among five players another stroke back.

Tommy Moore, Verplank's teammate at Oklahoma State, was the golf instructor at English Turn before he died of a rare blood disorder in 1998 at age 35.

Moore played on the PGA Tour from 1990-94. Verplank said he had dinner with Tracy Moore, his widow, on Thursday night.

"Yeah, winning here would be extra cool because his widow is here and their son, and his mom and dad still live here," said Verplank, who was two years behind Moore in school. "He was kind of my guide through college, and we were roommates and good buddies. He had a big influence on me."

Verplank made nine birdies Friday, despite struggling with his accuracy off the tee.

"It was one of those days the hole kept getting in the way of my putts," said Verplank, who has four career wins - the last in 2001. "When you continually make 10-15-footers, it makes up for a lot of mess-ups."

While Verplank was cashing in with his putter, Love's kept letting him down. Love two-putted the final six holes, including a bogey on 18. He shot a 67.

"I hit the ball real well, and today I didn't make as many putts," said Love, who is looking for his fourth victory of the season. "I actually misread a couple of putts and didn't hit a couple very good on that second nine, but all in all I'm playing pretty good."

Most of his misses were from 8-15 feet and off by no more than a few inches. But if the tour's leading money winner was frustrated, it hardly showed. A slight head shake after his 8-footer on 17 failed to break left was as animated as the unflappable 39-year-old would get.

Gay had seven birdies and, like Love, dropped a shot with a bogey on 18 to finish his round. Though Gay's 18th could have been much worse.

He hooked his first shot into the water, then had a bad lie on his drop. He had to make a 14-foot putt just to make a 5 on the challenging 471-yard hole.

The 5-under cut was the second-lowest this season.

Phil Mickelson just made it, but local favorite and LSU alum David Toms (-3) and Masters runner-up Len Mattiace (-2) were not so fortunate.

"The par-5s are playing real short," said rookie Mark Wilson, who shot a 67 and is tied for fourth. "I'm not a long hitter at all and I hit a 5-iron into the island green par-5, so I can just imagine guys like Davis or Vijay (Singh) probably got an 8-iron on that green."

• John Daly withdrew from the HP Classic on Friday after injuring his right wrist.

LPGA TOUR: Lorena Ochoa has been a model of consistency at the Michelob Light Open at Williamsburg, Va., playing 36 holes without a bogey. Grace Park's two rounds have included 11 birdies, four bogeys and an eagle followed immediately by a double-bogey.

They ended up in the same place Friday, as co-leaders with a 7-under par 135. They led by one stroke over Suzann Pettersen, who bogeyed two of her final three holes to give up the lead, and Akiko Fukushima, who birdied two of her final three holes.

Club pro Suzy Whaley, playing on a sponsor's exemption, finished 8-over and missed the cut. Like Annika Sorenstam, who will play against the men later this month at the Colonial, Whaley will play the PGA's Greater Hartford Open, after qualifying for that tournament by winning a sectional.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Hale Irwin shot a 7-under 65 and held a one-stroke lead over Larry Ziegler and Bruce Fleisher in the first round of the Bruno's Memorial Classic at Hoover, Ala. Irwin had five birdies on the final nine holes on the 6,992-yard, par-72 Founder's Course at the Greystone Golf Club.

ITALIAN OPEN: Sweden's Fredrik Widmark shot a 7-under-par 65 to share the second-round lead at the $1.2 million tournament in Brescia.

Australia's Peter O'Malley, who defeated Tiger Woods in the first round of the 2002 Match Play Championship, bogeyed No. 18 for a 2-under 70 and was tied with Widmark at 10-under 134.

O'Malley had a first-round 64 that equaled the course record set by Bernhard Langer when the German won the tournament in 1997.

Rolf Muntz shot a 6-under 66 and was one shot back in third place.

Colin Montgomerie, playing in Europe for the first time this season, shot a 67 and was three shots behind the leaders.

Friday's scores

PGA Tour

HP Classic of New Orleans

At English Turn GCC; New Orleans

$5 million; Yardage: 7,116; Par 72

Scott Verplank	65-63-128
Brian Gay	65-66-131
Todd Barranger	66-65-131
Davis Love III	65-67-132
Bob Estes	66-66-132
Kirk Triplett	66-66-132
Mark Wilson	65-67-132
Akio Sadakata	64-68-132
Paul Stankowski	64-69-133
Stephen Ames	65-68-133
Geoff Ogilvy	67-67-134
John Riegger	66-68-134
Darron Stiles	66-68-134
Jeff Sluman	65-69-134
Jay Williamson	69-65-134
Cameron Yancey	66-68-134
K.J. Choi	65-70-135
David Frost	70-65-135
Vijay Singh	67-68-135
Steve Lowery	71-64-135
Bob May	69-67-136
Mike Sposa	73-63-136
Carlos Franco	71-65-136
J.L. Lewis	68-68-136
David Sutherland	68-68-136
Pat Bates	68-68-136
Greg Chalmers	70-66-136
Jerry Kelly	67-69-136
Brent Geiberger	68-68-136
Brian Bateman	66-70-136
Lee Westwood	69-67-136
Steve Flesch	67-70-137
Scott McCarron	70-67-137
Skip Kendall	68-69-137
Patrick Sheehan	68-69-137
Ben Curtis	68-69-137
Brent Schwarzrock	67-70-137
Billy Mayfair	66-71-137
Jeff Brehaut	70-67-137
Tom Pernice Jr.	67-70-137
Rich Beem	69-68-137
Chris DiMarco	69-68-137
Michael Clark II	70-67-137
Stewart Cink	65-72-137
Shaun Micheel	69-68-137
Brian Watts	70-68-138
Woody Austin	66-72-138
Jesper Parnevik	70-68-138
Charles Howell III	68-70-138
Jason Caron	70-68-138
Hank Kuehne	70-68-138
John Senden	71-67-138
Mark Brooks	69-69-138
Dan Forsman	71-67-138
Cameron Beckman	69-69-138
Chris Riley	68-70-138
Mike Heinen	71-68-139
Heath Slocum	70-69-139
Billy Andrade	73-66-139
Esteban Toledo	69-70-139
Joel Edwards	69-70-139
Stuart Appleby	71-68-139
Phil Mickelson	70-69-139
Kent Jones	72-67-139
Todd Fischer	66-73-139
Cliff Kresge	70-69-139
Briny Baird	68-71-139
Kelly Gibson	71-68-139
Hal Sutton	69-70-139
John Rollins	69-70-139
Gene Sauers	69-70-139
Chris Smith	71-68-139
Craig Perks	69-70-139
Hidemichi Tanaka	70-69-139
Mathew Goggin	70-69-139
Chris Anderson	68-71-139

LPGA Tour

Michelob Light Open

At Kingsmill River Course; Williamsburg, Va.

$1.6 million; Yardage: 6,285; Par: 71

Grace Park	67-68-135
Lorena Ochoa	66-69-135
Akiko Fukushima	68-68-136
Suzann Pettersen	68-68-136
Patricia Meunier-Lebouc	69-68-137
Cristie Kerr	69-68-137
Mi-Hyun Kim	69-69-138
Jennifer Rosales	69-69-138
Se Ri Pak	69-69-138
Annika Sorenstam	68-70-138
Karen Stupples	68-70-138
Lorie Kane	72-67-139
Jung Yeon Lee	71-68-139
Meg Mallon	70-69-139
Natalie Gulbis	69-70-139
Hee-Won Han	67-72-139
Young Kim	74-66-140
Dorothy Delasin	72-68-140
Donna Andrews	71-69-140
Charlotta Sorenstam	70-70-140
Giulia Sergas	66-74-140
Wendy Doolan	73-68-141
Laura Davies	72-69-141
Pamela Kerrigan	70-71-141
Danielle Ammaccapane	70-71-141
Karrie Webb	70-71-141
Moira Dunn	75-67-142
Sophie Gustafson	74-68-142
Juli Inkster	73-69-142
Candie Kung	72-70-142
Cindy Figg-Currier	71-71-142
Kris Tschetter	71-71-142
Beth Daniel	70-72-142
Denise Killeen	66-76-142
Catriona Matthew	74-69-143
Michele Redman	74-69-143
Miriam Nagl	73-70-143
Sherri Turner	73-70-143
Rosie Jones	72-71-143
Jean Bartholomew	72-71-143
Suzanne Strudwick	72-71-143
Amy Fruhwirth	71-72-143
Pat Hurst	71-72-143
Heather Bowie	71-72-143
Becky Morgan	70-73-143
Mhairi McKay	76-68-144
Yu Ping Lin	74-70-144
Heather Daly-Donofrio	74-70-144
Angela Stanford	74-70-144
Wendy Ward	73-71-144
Rachel Teske	73-71-144
Young-A Yang	73-71-144
Tracy Hanson	73-71-144
Hiromi Kobayashi	72-72-144
Shani Waugh	72-72-144
Terry-Jo Myers	72-72-144
Janice Moodie	71-73-144
Angela Jerman	69-75-144
Anna Acker-Macosko	75-70-145
Suzy Green-Roebuck	73-72-145
Kim Saiki	72-73-145
Jill McGill	70-75-145
Ara Koh	75-71-146
Loraine Lambert	74-72-146
Johanna Head	73-73-146
Laurel Kean	73-73-146
Tina Barrett	72-74-146
Laura Diaz	72-74-146
Liselotte Neumann	78-69-147
Kate Golden	76-71-147
Jane Geddes	75-72-147
Tammie Green	73-74-147
Leta Lindley	73-74-147
Brandie Burton	72-75-147
Chris Johnson	72-75-147
Jeong Jang	71-76-147
Marnie McGuire	71-76-147
Marisa Baena	71-76-147

Champions Tour

Bruno's Memorial Classic

At Greystone GCC; Hoover, Ala.

$1.4 million; Yardage: 7,092; Par: 72

Hale Irwin	34-31-65
Larry Ziegler	33-33-66
Bruce Fleisher	33-33-66
Tom Jenkins	34-33-67
Morris Hatalsky	34-33-67
Bob Gilder	36-32-68
Tom Wargo	34-34-68
Graham Marsh	33-35-68
Des Smyth	34-34-68
Gary Koch	35-34-69
Mike Hill	33-36-69
Bob Murphy	35-34-69
Jim Colbert	34-35-69
Leonard Thompson	35-34-69
John Jacobs	35-34-69
John Schroeder	35-34-69
Dana Quigley	37-32-69
Jay Overton	34-35-69
Jim Albus	35-35-70
Dave Stockton	34-36-70
Dave Barr	35-35-70
Ed Dougherty	35-35-70
James Mason	34-36-70
Tom Purtzer	36-34-70
Rodger Davis	34-36-70
Jay Sigel	37-33-70
Ben Crenshaw	38-32-70
Billy Kratzert	37-33-70
Bruce Summerhays	35-35-70
Bob Charles	36-35-71
Jerry McGee	36-35-71
Mark McCumber	36-35-71
David Eger	36-35-71
Bobby Wadkins	35-36-71
Dave Eichelberger	38-33-71
Lee Trevino	36-35-71
John Mahaffey	36-35-71
Miller Barber	33-38-71
Terry Dill	35-36-71
Dale Douglass	36-35-71
Hugh Baiocchi	36-35-71
Jim Holtgrieve	34-37-71
Seiji Ebihara	36-35-71
Rafael Navarro	35-36-71
Jimmy Powell	35-37-72
Sammy Rachels	36-36-72
Doug Tewell	35-37-72
Gil Morgan	35-37-72
Allen Doyle	35-37-72
Jose Maria Canizares	36-36-72
Jim Dent	35-37-72
Wayne Levi	36-36-72
Frank Shikle	34-38-72
Mike Smith	39-34-73
Gibby Gilbert	37-36-73
Rocky Thompson	40-33-73
Larry Nelson	36-37-73
Hubert Green	38-35-73
Fuzzy Zoeller	41-32-73
Tom Kite	36-37-73
Andy Bean	37-36-73
Walter Morgan	36-37-73
Jim Ahern	37-36-73
Luis Carbonetti	39-35-74
Mark Pfeil	37-37-74
Tommy Aaron	37-37-74
Joe Inman	38-36-74
Walter Hall	35-39-74
Charles Coody	38-36-74
Stewart Ginn	40-35-75
Jim Thorpe	40-35-75
Ray Floyd	35-40-75
J.C. Snead	37-38-75
Howard Twitty	40-35-75
Mike McCullough	38-38-76
George Archer	39-37-76
Orville Moody	39-38-77