GOLF ROUNDUP : Daly Bides His Time for a Two-Shot Lead

Patience isn’t John Daly’s long suit, so he was pleased to outlast the weather and Nolan Henke to retain the lead after Saturday’s third round of the B.C. Open at Endicott, N.Y.

“I held my patience real well. Usually I don’t, if it takes that long to play golf,” said Daly, who shot a four-under-par 67 for a two-stroke lead after rain-delayed competition with Henke.

“Front and back, it seemed like we waiting on every shot. We were out there six or seven hours. That’s a long day,” said Daly, who was at 13-under-par 200 after 54 holes.

Daly and Henke, the 1990 B.C. Open champion, were tied until the final hole when Daly sank a 12-foot birdie putt and Henke bogeyed, dropping him into a second-place tie with rookie Phil Mickelson at 202.

“In the beginning of the round, I made a lot of good putts, a couple of good par putts,” said Henke, who wound up with a 68. “All in all, my putter was really hot for the first 12 holes. That got me going, but it kind of slowed down a bit and I made some bogeys coming in.”

First-round leader Ken Green was three strokes behind after a 69, and Jay Haas and Joel Edwards were four back. Haas shot a 67 and Edwards had a 69.

A two-hour rain delay called to allow officials to clear standing water from several greens on the 6,996-yard En-Joie Golf Club course did little to bother Henke, who began the day as one of three players trailing Daly by a stroke.

Daly had putted out on the second hole when the interruption came. When play resumed, Henke and Green finished the hole. Henke then made three consecutive birdies.

Henke took back the lead with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 11 and 12, but Daly didn’t let him pull away. After pulling his approach into the gallery on No. 12, Daly chipped within two feet and putted for a birdie that put him at 12 under, and he got even when Henke bogeyed No. 13.

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Japan’s Isao Aoki birdied four of his last five holes for a six-under-par 66, a two-round total of 136 and a one-stroke lead in the $800,000 senior tour’s Nationwide Championship.

Aoki, who turned 50 on Aug. 31 and is playing in only his fourth senior tournament, needed his fast finish to fend off Raymond Floyd, who shot a course-record 64 for a 137 over the 6,781-yard Country Club of the South course at Alpharetta, Ga., just outside Atlanta.

Floyd, making only his third start on the over-50 tour, made PGA history last week by winning the GTE North Classic to become the first golfer to win tournaments on both the regular and Senior PGA Tours in the same year.

Jim Dent and Bob Brue were tied for third at 138. Dent had a 68 and Brue a 69 over the hilly course on a day in which a misty rain fell throughout the round and temperatures remained in the 60s.

Aoki, who was third to Floyd last week, finished with seven birdies and one bogey.

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Australian Corinne Dibnah shot a 69, with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch, and took a one-stroke lead over U.S. Open champion Patty Sheehan after two rounds of the British Women’s Open at Woburn, Englad.

Sheehan shot a 72 for a 140 total. The tournament was reduced to 54 holes because of a rainout Friday.