Azinger Again Is a Victim of TV Camera : Golf: He is assessed a two-stroke penalty for moving a loose impediment that caused his ball to move. Purtzer and Faxon share lead.

Controversy seems to be a companion of Paul Azinger on a golf course. It was with him again Friday during the second round of the Infiniti Tournament of Champions at La Costa.

Azinger was belatedly assessed a two-stroke penalty on the 16th hole for moving a loose impediment that caused his ball to move.

He said he wasn’t aware at the time that he had committed an infraction, but a television tape confirmed that he had.

So Azinger got a seven on the par-four 16th hole and finished with a four-over-par 76 after having shot a 67 Thursday, when he was two shots behind the leader, Blaine McCallister.

The leader board changed Friday and Tom Purtzer and Brad Faxon now share the lead at 138 after 36 holes.

Faxon shot a 70, and Purtzer a 72. Jay Don Blake and Billy Andrade are a shot behind the leaders. Blake had the low round of the day, a 66, and Andrade had a 68.

Last year, in the Doral tournament, Azinger was disqualified when he inadvertently moved some rocks with his foot while taking a stance in a water hazard, a rule violation that calls for a two-stroke penalty.

He signed a card for a 70, unaware that he had committed an infraction until a television viewer called it to the attention of tournament officials.

Once again Friday, television was responsible for a ruling. Only this time Azinger didn’t sign his card until he had reviewed the tape of the infraction on the 16th hole with tour official Glenn Tait.

Azinger’s second shot on the 16th hole landed on the edge of a bunker. The ball then rolled into the bunker after he removed a leaf near the ball.

He played his next shot out of the bunker. Faxon, his playing partner, wasn’t aware that Azinger had removed the leaf.

“The information given to Glenn Tait was that I had not addressed the ball, so I had not caused the ball to move,” Azinger said.

“He also asked me if I had removed a loose impediment and, at the time, I said no. But I actually had removed a loose impediment and it was clear on the videotape.

“If you remove anything within a club length of your ball and it rolls, the rule states that you caused the ball to move. Whether you actually had or not is not an issue.”

Azinger said he unthinkingly picked up a leaf six inches from his ball.

“It would have been a one-shot penalty, but now it was two because I didn’t move the ball back (to its original position).”

Azinger estimated that it was about 10 seconds after he picked up the leaf that the ball rolled.

The official at the hole, Duke Butler, reportedly wasn’t aware that Azinger had committed an infraction.

Tait didn’t say where he got the information that Azinger had removed a loose impediment. “I got the information that he did remove the loose impediment and, when we looked at the film, in fact he did,” Tait said. “So it was a two-shot violation of rule 18.

“If he had replaced the ball, instead of hitting it from the sand, he would have received only a one-shot penalty.”

Azinger is five strokes behind the leaders.

Golf Notes

A sizable crowd continued to follow PGA champion John Daly, who shot a 70 and, at 145, is seven shots behind the leaders. . . . Jay Don Blake, who shot a 66, had a bogey-free round with six birdies. He said he was rusty before the tournament but began working on his game Monday. . . . Blaine McCallister, who shot an opening-round 65 Thursday, was 10 strokes higher Friday. He’s at 140, along with Steve Elkington and Davis Love III.