GOLF ROUNDUP : Price Leads Soggy Western Open

Nick Price finished off his conservative 71 early in the day and retained the lead Friday in the storm-delayed and uncompleted second round of the Western Open.

The afternoon storm halted play at Lemont, Ill., for 3 3/4 hours and eventually caused 51 players to be stranded on the course because of darkness.

They marked their positions on the rain-soaked par-72 Dubsdread course at Cog Hill and were scheduled to return at 7:30 a.m. CDT today to complete the second round.

The third round will be played as scheduled this afternoon, weather permitting. And it very well might not permit. The forecast for the Chicago area calls for afternoon thunderstorms for the next five days.

Of the players still on the course, Grant Waite of New Zealand and Greg Norman were in the best position to challenge Price’s leading total of 135, nine under par.

Waite was four under for the day and eight under for the tournament, one behind Price, with three holes to play. Norman, runner-up in this event each of the last two years and four times overall, was another stroke back with two holes to play.

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Mike Hill and DeWitt Weaver took advantage of the wet conditions to play nearly flawless golf en route to five-under-par 66s and shared the first-round lead in the $850,000 Kroger Senior Classic at Mason, Ohio.

Seven players were one stroke back, including Lee Trevino, who waited until No. 15 to begin a three-birdie charge, and Larry Gilbert, who had two eagles.

Ten others were within two shots of the leaders.

Hill predicted it could take a score of 15 under to win on the 6,628-yard Grizzly Course at the Jack Nicklaus Sports Center with its soggy fairways and slow greens. That would equal defending champion Gibby Gilbert’s tournament-record 198 for the 54-hole event.

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Hollis Stacy, winner of 18 LPGA tournaments, and rookie Suzanna Strudwick were among six golfers to shoot 67s and share the first-round lead of the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic at Sylvania Ohio.

Barb Bunkowsky, Amy Benz, Patty Jordan and Kelly Robbins were also four under par after a trip around the 6,295-yard Highland Meadows Golf Club course. Six golfers were one shot back.

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Jose Maria Olazabal, who has gone 16 months without a victory on the European PGA Tour, fired a five-under-par 67 and took a one-stroke lead in the Irish Open at Kilkenny. He has a 136 total, eight under, for two rounds.