His best finish of 2004 is a tie for 14th at the Texas Open, and a victory here would match the one his father, Al, earned in 1976.
"I would like to win any of the tournaments he's won," Brent Geiberger said. "He's got a pretty good list. So any time you win it's special, but it's kind of neat to have won at a place your dad has."
He and the rest of the field faced much more difficult conditions Friday, particularly in the afternoon when the wind kicked up and made club selection a guessing game. Fortunately, an early morning shower left the greens soft and receptive.
Kelly joined first-round leader Jason Dufner (70), Joe Ogilvie (67), Tom Lehman (66) and Bo Van Pelt (69) in a group two shots back. Defending champion Shigeki Maruyama had a 70 and fell five shots back.
Davis Love III, who redesigned the greens at Forest Oaks Country Club before last year's tournament, finished at even-par 144 and missed the cut by three shots.
Samsung
Grace Park is brimming with confidence. After opening the Samsung World Championship with a 10-under 62, she felt she might go just as low in the second round Friday.
She left a few birdie putts short, but finished with a 67 to open a four-shot lead over Shi Hyun Ahn and Karen Stupples in the 20-player event.
Asked if she began the second day thinking she could score as low as she did the first, Park replied, "I told myself, `Why not?' I feel like I could birdie every hole on this course, the way I've been striking the ball and putting."
Park was 15 under on the Big Horn Golf Club's Canyons Course.
"It's always hard to follow a round like I had yesterday," she said. "I played solid today. I left a few good chances out there, but 5 under, I'll take that."
Park had her lone bogey of the second round when her drive sailed into desert brush -- and an unplayable lie -- alongside the fairway on No. 7. After making the turn at 34, she shot a 33 on the back nine, including three straight birdies beginning at No. 12.
She finished with a scrambling par. Her drive went into the sandy soil off the fairway and the ball was slightly embedded next to a lip of grass, with a prickly pear cactus not giving her much room on her backswing.
She recovered with a shot onto the front of the green and two-putted. Later, she said the lie wasn't as bad as it looked.
SBC Championship
Tom Kite birdied of five of seven holes to start the back nine and shot a 5-under 66 Friday to earn a share of the lead after the first round of the SBC Championship.
Kite had a birdie and a par to be even after the front nine, but rallied to tie with playing partner Tom Jenkins, Dave Stockton and James Mason.
Jim Thorpe and Mark McNulty were one shot back, while points leader Hale Irwin and 2002 champion Dana Quigley were in a group of 13 at 68 at the Oak Hills Country Club.
Defending champion Craig Stadler, who trails Irwin by just one point for the Schwab Cup and its US$1 million purse, had four bogeys on the front nine and finished at 74.
Kite, a Texas native, is looking for his first-ever professional victory in his home state. Coming into the SBC Championship, the Austin resident had not won any of his 103 tournaments in Texas.
After three pars, he bogeyed the par-4 4th but got the stroke back one hole later before finishing the front nine with four more pars.
RSS