GOLF ROUNDUP : Beman Takes 1-Shot Lead Over Palmer, Player

PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman shot a 4-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Arnold Palmer and Gary Player after the second round of the Seniors British Open Friday in Turnberry, Scotland.

Beman, who retired 16 years ago, had a 133 after two rounds.

Palmer, who shot a 68 Friday after tying for the opening-round lead with a 66, is seeking to win a pro tournament in a fifth decade.

The best round on this blustery day was turned in by Player, whose 65 included an eagle 3 on the seventh hole.

Defending champion Bob Charles was two shots off the lead with 135, one shot ahead of American Larry Mowry and Englishman Brian Waites.

Beman, 52, had six birdies in Friday’s round and said he battled to maintain his concentration after being away from competition for so long.

Hale Irwin, who last month became the oldest player to win a U.S. Open, shot a nine-under-par 63 and Don Pooley shot a 65 to take a two-stroke lead, 12 under par, in the Buick Open at Grande Blanc, Mich.

Ken Green also shot a 63 over the 7,014-yard Warwick Hills course. Green was tied at 134 with U.S. Open runner-up Mike Donald, Billy Andrade and Mike Sullivan. Fuzzy Zoeller and Dave Barr were at 135.

Irwin, who took the Open from Donald in a playoff at Medinah, Ill., birdied six of the final seven holes Friday.

“I’m swinging well,” Irwin said. “I’m not putting superbly, but I don’t have to putt too well because I’m hitting it so close.”

Green birdied seven successive holes, the fourth through 10th, one shy of a PGA Tour record shared by many.

Dewey Arnette was the last to make eight in a row, in 1987 at Warwick Hills.

“I goosed No. 11. I got ahead of myself,” Green said. “That’s what happens when you start thinking.”

Donald, playing the back nine first, started with a bogey but birdied 12 through 16 to get to 11 under.

Sue Ertl shot a four-under-par 67 and took advantage of a quadruple bogey by Rosie Jones to take a two-stroke lead after two rounds of the LPGA Championship, in Bethesda, Md.

Jones led by five strokes until her seven on the 195-yard, par-3, 16th hole. That helped give the lead to Ertl, who had six birdies and two bogeys for a five-under 137 total.

For Ertl, 32, it was the first time she led a round since the du Maurier Ltd. Classic four years ago.

Jones was at 139 and Cindy Figg-Currier and Cathy Johnston were tied for third at 140.

They were the only players under par after two trips over the 6,246-yard Bethesda Country Club course. The cut, at 150, left 77 players to vie for a share of the record $1-million purse.