Nick Watney, who won the Buick Invitational earlier this season, fired a four-under-par 67 to join fellow American Steve Stricker atop the leaderboard after the second round of the PGA Transitions Championship.
Watney, who is looking for his third career PGA title, is coming off a one-stroke loss to Phil Mickelson at Doral. He moved to six under par 136.
Stricker — who also had a bogey-free 67 — has now recorded 10 straight sub-par rounds.
The leaders share a one-stroke lead at the Copperhead Course, which will be a stern test over the final two rounds.
Howell is in a group of eight at five-under 137 after a 66.
Jonathan Byrd reached eight-under through 11 holes but had to settle for a 70 and joined Howell in the group at 137 that included two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen (68), Stuart Appleby (67) and former Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman (69), who turned 50 last week.
Ryo Ishikawa, the 17-year-old from Japan, had a 73 to finish at even-par 142 and make his first PGA Tour cut. He missed the cut in his PGA Tour debut last month at Riviera.
■MASTERCARD CLASSIC
AFP, MEXICO CITY
Lorena Ochoa hit a seven-under-par 65 on Friday to equal the course record and take a two-shot lead after the opening round of the USLPGA MasterCard Classic.
“I got a lot of bad lies here,” she said. “Also some mud in my ball. But I managed to make birdies anyway.”
Ochoa has often struggled on this course, and has yet to win this tournament in four attempts. Last year she tied for eighth as she was never able to recover from a first round 76.
Ochoa had five birdies and an eagle on the 541-yard ninth hole, while showing things might go a little differently for her here this time around.
Despite her success, Ochoa gave no indications that her round was easy.
Ochoa held a two-stroke lead over South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi. Brittany Lang, Pat Hurst and Taiwan’s Yani Tseng shot 68s and are another stroke back.
Sweden’s Louise Friberg, the defending champion, is way back after a nine-over 81.
■MADEIRA ISLANDS OPEN
AFP, MADEIRA,PORTUGAL
Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey, who came out of qualifying school last year at the sixth attempt, fired a five-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead at the Madeira Islands Open on Friday.
The 30-year-old former British amateur champion was seven under for the tournament after two rounds and has a one-shot advantage over Estanislao Goya, joint-overnight leader Joakim Haeggman and Michael McGeady.
Hoey birdied four of his first six holes to turn four under and added another on the 452-yard second, but bogeyed two holes later.
“I have played well over both rounds, I think I just made a few more putts. I should have been six under after six holes. I didn’t actually have to putt that well because I was hitting the ball so close,” Hoey said.
When he was an amateur player, Hoey finished 11th in the 2001 Scottish Open and he was a teammate of Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell and Nick Dougherty in the Walker Cup victory in the US in the same year.
He turned professional after playing in The Masters in 2002 and was a Challenge Tour graduate in 2005, but lost his card immediately — and that 11th place at Loch Lomond eight years ago remains his best finish on the main circuit.
Argentina’s Goya posted his second consecutive 68 while Haeggman added a one-under 70 to his opening 66.
Damien McGrane is in a tie for fifth having been joint-leader overnight, alongside Spain’s Carlos Rodiles. Rodiles established a record for the course when he fired a six-under 65, but it did not last long as England’s Richard Bland scored one better — and that after starting the tournament with a seven-over 78.
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IN-HOUSE BUSINESS: LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said that the reason for the team’s poor form was not due to Paul, but the player was not a good fit for them Chris Paul’s return stint with the Los Angeles Clippers has come to an abrupt and stunning end, with the franchise parting ways with one of its greatest players in a late-night meeting on Wednesday that adds another layer of drama to the team’s terrible start this season. The news was delivered in a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, that ended at about 2am, Clippers basketball operations president Lawrence Frank said. Frank said he made the decision to sever ties with Paul on Sunday then told the franchise’s career assist leader that he needed to see him on Tuesday in Atlanta. Frank did not confirm
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