GOLF ROUNDUP : Mike Hill Has Lead With Dent

Mike Hill recovered from two double-bogeys to finish with three consecutive birdies and tie defending champion Jim Dent for the second-round lead in the Syracuse (N.Y.) Senior Golf Classic.

Hill and Dent each shot 67s on Saturday and were at 11-under-par 133 after 36 holes at the Lafayette Country Club.

“I’ve never actually had two double-bogeys in one round. I’ve never hit the ball out of bounds twice, either,” said Hill, who is trying to win the tournament his older brother, Dave, won in 1988.

Larry Mowry was tied with Hill and Dent until he bogeyed the final hole, settling for a 68 and 134.

George Archer, whose 65 was the best round of the day, and Charles Sifford were at 135, and first-day leader Dick Hendrickson, Art Wall and Dan Morgan were at 136. Sifford shot 66, Hendrickson 71, Wall 67 and Morgan 68.

Hill started with a birdie on the first hole, moving into a tie for the lead with Dent, who also birdied, and Hendrickson. Hill kept pace with the leaders with a birdie at No. 5 that dropped him to eight under.

Trouble struck the first time at the par-five seventh, when Hill hit his tee shot out of bounds.

Hill made up for the first mistake with a 15-foot eagle on No. 8, also a par-five, and moved back within a stroke of the lead with a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 9. He tied Mowry for the lead at 10 under with a birdie on No. 11, only to hit another tee shot out of bounds on No. 14

But Hill once again snapped back, getting birdies on the last three holes to finish the day 11 under.

Pamela Wright of Scotland shot an LPGA season-best, six-under-par 64 to charge from five shots off the pace into a three-way share of the lead after three rounds of the Atlantic City Classic at Somers Point, N.J.

The round of seven birdies and a bogey also set a course record at the Sands Country Club and moved Wright into a tie with Dale Eggeling and second-round co-leader Chris Johnson at five-under-par 205.

Johnson, who is seeking her first victory since 1987, had a four-stroke lead halfway through the third round, but blew it with three bogeys on the way home. She finished with a one-under-par 69.

Defending champion Nancy Lopez, also seeking her first victory this year, made three birdies and a bogey in shooting a two-under-par 68 that moved her within two strokes of the lead.