GOLF ROUNDUP : Ace Helps Perry Shoot Record 63

Kenny Perry had a hole in one on his way to a course-record nine-under-par 63 in taking a three-stroke lead after the second round of the Memorial tournament Friday at Dublin, Ohio.

The ace came on the 208-yard 16th hole.

Chip Beck, with a second-round 66, was second, one stroke in front of Corey Pavin and Fuzzy Zoeller.

Perry didn’t come in counting. “I didn’t know anything about the record,” he said. And, until he added it, he didn’t know his own score.

“I got in a situation out there where I didn’t even know how many under par I was,” he said.

He birdied the first three holes, two on putts of 30 and 40 feet. He had a total of eight birdies, the ace and a three-putt bogey. In one six-hole stretch--11 through 16--he was six under par.

“A day like today just happens,” Perry said. “By far, the best round I’ve ever played.”

Perry’s 63 broke the course record of 64, set by Mark McCumber in 1984.

The centerpiece of the record-breaking round was the ace. He hit a six-iron after his caddie suggested that would be better than the five-iron Perry had originally selected. It was his second of the year and third on tour.

“I had 208 yards, downhill and downwind,” Perry said. “The ball hit about 18-20 feet below the hole, bounced twice and started rolling like a putt. That sucker just rolled right in.”

Perry, 31, from Franklin, Ky., has yet to win in a five-season PGA career.

Lee Trevino and Mike Hill combined for a tournament record-tying 59 and took a three-stroke lead halfway through the $770,000 Legends of Golf at Austin, Tex.

First-round leaders George Archer and Don Bies followed their opening-round 61 with a 65.

Ayako Okamoto of Japan shot a four-under-par 68 to take a one-shot lead at the $1.1-million Centel tournament at Tallahassee, Fla., the richest event on the LPGA Tour. Pat Bradley and Judy Dickinson were tied for second.