GOLF ROUNDUP : Hoch Shoots 68 to Lead at Bay Hill

Scott Hoch, playing despite tendinitis in his left hand, shot a four-under-par 68 Friday to take the second-round lead in the Bay Hill Invitational at Orlando, Fla.

Hoch had five birdies and a bogey despite “mis-hitting the ball all over the place” and was at seven-under-par 137 after two trips around the 7,114-yard course. That was a shot better than Jay Don Blake, Larry Nelson, Corey Pavin and Billy Andrade.

Blake, in his fourth year on the PGA Tour, had the day’s best score, a 66 that included eight birdies--including five in a row starting on the 10th hole.

Tom Watson, Curtis Strange, Billy Mayfair and Craig Parry were two shots back at 139. Mark McCumber, Paul Azinger, Robert Gamez, Nick Price and Kenny Knox were at 140.

“The way I’m hitting, I should have missed the cut,” said Hoch, a 10-year tour veteran with four victories. “I haven’t hit a solid long iron yet. . . . I was lucky.”

Hoch, who suffered a torn ligament earlier this year, said his hand hurts after every swing “but I’m playing through it. My doctor said to stop if the pain gets too bad.”

Hoch lives at Bay Hill but said he doesn’t play the course often.

Nelson shot a 71 to go with his first-round 67. Pavin shot his second consecutive 69 and Andrade, a third-year pro, had a 70.

“Things just went right for me today,” said Blake, whose best finish was a tie for third in last year’s Atlanta Classic.

Nelson, starting his 17th year on the tour, was so disgusted with his putting that he gave his putter to a small boy behind the 18th green and went shopping for another one.

Tom Byrum, the first-round leader with a 64, fell apart on Friday, bogeying nine holes on the way to an 81.

“I’ve got nothing to say,” Byrum said after finishing the disastrous round that tied the high score of the opening round by Mike Nicolette.

Rosie Jones sank a 17-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole to cap a three-under-par 70 and take a one-shot lead over Donna White and Kristi Albers after the second round of the LPGA Turquoise Classic at Phoenix.

Jones, who was tied for second place after an opening-round 69, started on the back nine and went to six-under with birdies on the par-four 12th and par-five 13th holes.

After bogeying Nos. 16 and 18, she birdied Nos. 2 and 4 before her decisive putt off the fringe at No. 9 for a seven-under 139 total at the halfway mark.

Albers, a non-winner in five years on the tour, shot a bogey-free 70 to take the early second-round lead. She started the day in a five-way tie for ninth place.

White, who was a stroke off the lead after an opening-round 69, shot a 71 for a six-under 140 total on the 6,514-yard Moon Valley Country Club course.

First-round co-leader Cindy Figg-Currier and Janet Coles were both at four-under 142 through 36 holes. Figg-Currier had a 74 and Coles shot 69.

Larry Mowry shot a six-under-par 66 and grabbed a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Grandslam Championship at Kurimotomachi, Japan.

Chi San-hsu of Taiwan was a shot behind at 67.

Lee Trevino, the leading money winner on the Seniors Tour, Don January, Dave Hill and Japan’s Hideo Jibiki shot 69s and were tied for third.