After winning a narrow decision over the wind, the early chill and the wiles of the Harbour Town Golf Links Friday, Nick Price breathed a satisfied sigh of relief.
“The golf course giveth and it taketh. I’ve done my share of taking,” Price said.
Midway through the windswept MCI Classic at Hilton Head Island, S.C., Price’s two-day total of 8-under par 134 was good enough for a one-stroke lead over Brad Faxon, Rick Fehr and Lennie Clements.
John Maginnes was alone at 5-under par 137 and Tom Watson was at 4-under par 138.
Price added a 69 to his opening 65 but even he didn’t get away without feeling Harbour Town’s bite on the sunny, breezy day.
Price was 10-under par with two holes remaining Friday but bogeyed the par-3 17th and par-4 18th where the wind was sweeping off Calibogue Sound.
“I had a putt at No. 16 to get to 11-under and if I want to look at it in a negative light, I could say I blew it on the last two holes,” Price said. “But I’m thinking two rounds at eight under. I did very well.”
Others were left to ponder their own twists of fate. Among those Harbour Town took from Friday afternoon were:
– Phil Mickelson, who was tied for the lead at 8-under par through 12 holes but played his last six holes 6-over par, shooting 32-41 in the second round.
– Tom Lehman, who was cruising along, two shots out of the lead until he double-bogeyed the fourth hole while playing his last 17 holes without a birdie.
– Watson, who was two shots out of the lead until he missed an 18-inch putt on the 16th green and a three-footer at No. 17.
– Clements, who had a share of the lead until making a bogey at his 17th hole then knocking in a 10-footer for par at his finishing hole.
– And, Fehr, who was tied for the lead until hitting his tee shot into a divot on his final hole (the ninth) and making a bogey from the bad lie.
Seniors Championship: Hale Irwin foresees no changes in his game plan after taking a seven-shot lead at the halfway point in the tournament in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
The defending champion birdied four holes in a row midway through the front nine and holed out for an eagle at No. 13 en route to a 7-under-par 65 and a 36-hole score of 134 on the 6,722-yard Champion course at the PGA National Golf Club.
New Zealand left-hander Bob Charles birdied the 18th hole for a 70 and was at 141, followed by Gibby Gilbert, whose 73 left him at 142.
“I don’t look it as a seven-shot lead, or as any lead,” Irwin said. “Maybe if it was Sunday I would play a little differently tomorrow, but we still have 36 holes to go. I have to stay focused, be aggressive and try to play the same way I have the last two days.”
Irwin birdied Nos. 4-7 on putts of 15, 10, 6 and 12 feet to grab the lead, then climaxed his day by holing a 155-yard pitching wedge from a fairway bunker at the par-4 13th.
Charles, who has a home at PGA National, birdied the 18th after eight consecutive pars.
Gilbert, who missed the 36-hole cut in this tournament last year, nearly overcame three double bogeys with five birdies.
Gil Morgan, who two weeks ago won The Tradition, the first major championship of the season on the Senior PGA Tour, shot a 73 and was at 143. He was joined by 1991 champion Jack Nicklaus, Englishman John Morgan and Larry Gilbert. Nicklaus and John Morgan shot 72s and Gilbert a 69.
First-round leader John Bland couldn’t overcome three double bogeys, including consecutive doubles at 16 and 17, and slipped to a 77 that left him at 144.
Susan G. Komen International: Nanci Bowen’s second round in the inaugural LPGA Tour event wasn’t nearly as exciting as her first. It was, however, just as effective.
Bowen fought through cold, windy conditions to post a 1-over-par 73 for a 6-under 138 total and the lead at the halfway point in Murrells Inlet, S.C.
Bowen, whose only LPGA victory came in the 1995 Nabisco Dinah Shore, extended her one-shot, first-round edge to two strokes over Tina Barrett and Patty Sheehan.
Bowen, 30, finished with nine straight pars on the front nine.
“It was kind of boring but the good kind of boring,” said Bowen, who shot a 65 on Thursday.
Temperatures that dipped into the low 40s and gusting wind created a wind-chill factor of 26 degrees for players in the morning.
Cindy Schreyer and Lori Kane tied for the low round of 70.
“I knew it would be tough, but everybody played in the same conditions,” Bowen said. “I just tried to hang in there. It was brutal out there.”
Barrett, whose only LPGA victory came in 1989 at Cranston, R.I., shot a 72 with three birdies and three bogeys.
Barrett trailed by one before missing a 3-foot par putt at 18.
“I’ve been hitting the ball well all year and my putting is finally coming around,” she said.
Patty Sheehan shot 71 despite missing a 2-foot par putt on the final hole.
Maggie Will-Halpin, Helen Alfredsson and Brandie Burton were at 3-under and Juli Inkster, Michelle McGann, Annika Sorestam and Kane were deadlocked at 2-under.
