GOLF ROUNDUP : Douglass-Coody Increase Lead to 6

Dale Douglass and Charles Coody birdied six holes in a row and nine of their last 11 Friday to expand their lead to six strokes after two rounds of the Legends of Golf tournament at Austin, Tex.

The runaway leaders combined for a 10-under-par 62 and completed 36 holes in 121, a record 23-under par in the 13-year-old better-ball event. The record was 122, set by Don January and Sam Snead in 1982 at Onion Creek, a par-70 course.

Douglass and Coody broke that mark with two eagles, 20 birdies and a lone bogey in two trips over the par-72 Barton Creek course, which is being used for the first time this year.

Eleven of those birdies came Friday, with Coody accounting for six and Douglass five. Most came on a six-in-a-row string beginning on the eighth.

“We’re tickled to death,” said Coody, the 1971 Masters champion, who did the bulk of the work in a first-round 59. “It’s another nice score, but we didn’t play particularly well in some spots.”

But some spectacular putting helped them increase their advantage. Coody made a 40-footer for par on the 16th hole and Douglass birdied the last two holes with putts of more than 30 feet.

“The putts are continuing to go in, but we can’t count on that continuing for two more days,” Douglass said.

Defending champions Al Geiberger and Harold Henning are in second place. Geiberger scored an eagle-3 as he and Henning matched the leaders’ 62 and reached the halfway point at 127, 17-under par but six behind.

Jim Gallagher Jr. posted three birdies and a bogey for his second consecutive round of 70 and a one-stroke lead over a bunched-up field at the midway point of the Greater Greensboro Open at Greensboro, N.C.

Possibly because of the high rough at Forest Oaks Country Club, most players failed to make any ground on par, despite favorable weather.

Four golfers were at three-under-par 141, seven were at 142, 10 were at 143 and another 10 were at 144.

In all, 32 of the 155 players who started the tournament shot par or better, an unusual experience for a course that generally yields low scores.

The cut was at 147, and that eliminated Curtis Strange, who had a 150, to end a streak of 17 tournaments in which he had survived the first two days. Payne Stewart, who won the Heritage tournament last weekend, also was eliminated with a 148.

For a time, it looked as if Phil Blackmar would begin a charge, climbing to six-under through 15 holes. But his tee shot at 16 landed in a fairway bunker and led to a double-bogey six.