Golf Roundup : Bean Leads Canadian by One Shot

Andy Bean missed the rain but overcame the wind Friday to fashion his second three-under-par 69 and take a one-stroke lead over Paul Azinger after two rounds of the $850,000 Canadian Open, being played in the Toronto suburb of Oakville.

Bean, third on the current PGA Tour money list with $404,474 and a two-time winner this year, had a 36-hole total of 138, six under par on the 7,102-yard Glen Abbey Golf Club course.

Azinger, a non-winner in four years on the PGA Tour, had to play in the squall that blew through in the morning and shot a 69 for 139. Davis Love III, the rookie who is atop the driving distance standings, was at 71-69 to share third place at 140 with Ernie Gonzalez (71-69).

At 141 were first-round leader Hale Irwin (68-73), Bob Murphy (71-70), Bob Tway (70-71), Mac O’Grady (73-68) and Canadian Dave Barr (70-71), bidding to become the first Canadian to win in 32 years.

Four players were at 142, and a logjam at 143 included three-time winner Lee Trevino (74-69), course designer Jack Nicklaus (74-69) and defending champion Curtis Strange (73-70).

After the round, the field was cut to 76 players who shot 148 or better.

Bean, 33, of Lakeland, Fla., said he was lucky to tee off after a 90-minute rain delay.

“The greens are holding better, but the wind is drying them out,” said Bean, who shares the Glen Abbey course record of 10-under 62 with Leonard Thompson, but who missed the cut here last year.

Dale Douglass shot a one-over-par 72 to take a three-stroke lead after two rounds of the $275,000 U.S. Senior Open at the Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.

Douglass, who shot a tournament record first-round 66, was at 138, four under par, after two rounds and three ahead of Jim Ferree and Ken Still.

Ferree and Still were at 141 after each shot 72s.

Sandra Palmer, chasing her first victory since 1982 and the 21st in her 23-year pro career, shot her second consecutive four-under-par 68 to take a three-stroke lead over Jan Stephenson after the second round of the 72-hole LPGA Mayflower tournament at Indianapolis.

Stephenson began with a birdie but never mounted a solid charge and finished with a 71. Defending champion Alice Miller (71) was third at 140 in the battle for the $52,500 top prize.

Margaret Ward, who started the day in a tie for third at 69, failed to make the cut when she shot an 82.

Ron Commans of Westlake Village maintained his two-shot lead with a third-round two-under-par 67 in the $245,000 Monte Carlo Open at Mont Agel, France.

The former USC golfer has a 54-hole total of 196. Briton Michael McLean, who also carded a 67, and Spaniard Antonio Garrido, who fired a 65, shared second at 198.