Golf Roundup : Sutton (64-64) Is Top Gun in Phoenix Shootout

Hal Sutton led a spectacular scoring day with another bogey-free 64 that provided him with a two-stroke lead over Howard Twitty Friday in the second round of the $500,000 Phoenix Open golf tournament.

His 128 total was 14 shots under par at Phoenix Country Club and matched the low 36-hole total on the PGA Tour last year. He has not made a bogey in the tournament and has 62 birdies in 2 1/2 tournaments this year.

Despite Sutton’s play, scoring honors went to Twitty and Don Pooley.

“What can I say?” asked Twitty. “I shot 63 and I got beat by two.”

Pooley, who won the 1985 Vardon Trophy for the low-stroke average on the tour, matched the course record with a 10-under-par 61, the lowest score on the pro circuit since the 1984 Walt Disney World Open. However, he had a first-round 74 and was seven strokes off the pace.

Despite the ideal playing conditions, some of the game’s more celebrated names encountered their share of difficulties.

PGA champion Hubert Green, the first-round leader with a 63, went 11 shots higher and is at 137. Jack Nicklaus shot a 69 and just made the cut at 141. Tom Watson, a five-time British Open champion making his first start of the season, had a 70 and a 142 total, not good enough to qualify for the final two rounds. Lanny Wadkins, the 1985 Player of the Year, also missed after his 75 for a 144 total.

Jo Ann Washam, who has been considering quitting the LPGA Tour, shot a five-under-par 67 to take the lead in the second round of the $200,000 Mazda tournament at Boca Raton, Fla. Washam had a 138, one stroke ahead of Sandra Palmer and Robin Walton. Both Palmer and Walton shot 69s Friday.